#a view of the woods gave me nightmares (affectionate)

[littlemochix17]

Chapter 12

Words: 15.2k

Dumbledore had convinced Harry not to go looking for the Mirror of Erised again, and for the rest of the Christmas holidays, the Invisibility Cloak stayed folded at the bottom of his trunk. Harry wished he could forget what he'd seen in the mirror as easily, but he couldn't. He started having nightmares. Over and over again he dreamed about his parents disappearing in a flash of green light, while a high voice cackled with laughter.

"You see, Dumbledore was right, that mirror could drive you mad," said Ron, when Harry told him about these dreams.

(Y/n) sat motionless in her room, her eyes fixated on the necklace lying on her bedside nightstand. Since returning from her journey with Harry and Ron, she had not stepped out of her bed except to satiate her hunger. She felt no inclination to search for her friends or engage in any other activity. Her mind was consumed with finding answers to the mysterious behaviour of the necklace. Was it under a spell? Was the woman she saw in the mirror the same one who had bewitched the necklace? maybe Leonora knows something Countless questions swirled in her mind, interrupting her thoughts at every turn. Suddenly, her trance was broken as she heard a loud knocking at her window. She knew it was Hedwig, her best friend's owl, and she hurriedly opened the window to find the white owl perched on the windowsill. She took the letter from Hedwig and stroked her feathers affectionately before watching her fly away. As she opened the letter, she couldn't help but smile at the simple words inscribed on it:

Meet me in the common room.

As (Y/n) reminisced about her friends, a sudden realization dawned upon her, and she hurriedly rushed down from her room. She didn't want to waste a moment more, and so she quickly descended the stairs to meet her two dear friends. Upon reaching the bottom, she was greeted with two pairs of anxious eyes, which immediately relaxed as they saw her emerge from her dorm. A warm smile spread across her face as she approached her friends, grateful for their concern and happy to be reunited with them.

Harry's heart skipped a beat as he caught sight of the girl he had been waiting for. He greeted her with a warm smile, his eyes softening as he took in her form.

"Hey," he said softly, his voice filled with admiration. The girl's face lit up with a radiant grin, her sparkling eyes meeting his.

"Hey," she replied, her voice filled with joy and excitement at the sight of her best friend.

Hermione, who came back the day before term started, took a different view of things. She was torn between horror at the idea of Harry being out of bed, roaming the school three nights in a row ("If Filch had caught you!"), and disappointment that he hadn't at least found out who Nicolas Flamel was. They had almost given up hope of ever finding Flamel in a library book, even though Harry was still sure he'd read the name somewhere. Once the term had started, they were back to skimming through books for ten minutes during their breaks. Harry had even less time than the other three because Quidditch practice had started again.

Wood was working the team harder than ever. Even the endless rain that had replaced the snow couldn't dampen his spirits. The Weasleys complained that Wood was becoming a fanatic, but Harry was on Wood's side. If they win their next match, against Hufflepuff, they would overtake Slytherin in the House Championship for the first time in seven years. Quite apart from wanting to win, Harry found that he had fewer nightmares when he was tired out after training.

Then, during one particularly wet and muddy practice session, Wood gave the team a bit of bad news. He'd just gotten very angry with the Weasleys, who kept dive-bombing each other and pretending to fall off their brooms.

"Will you stop messing around!" he yelled.

"That's exactly the sort of thing that'll lose us the match! Snape's refereeing this time, and he'll be looking for any excuse to knock points off Gryffindor!"

George Weasley really did fall off his broom at these words.

"Snape's refereeing?" he spluttered through a mouthful of mud.

"When's he ever refereed a Quidditch match? He's not going to be fair if we might overtake Slytherin."

The rest of the team landed next to George to complain, too.

"It's not my fault," said Wood.

"We've just got to make sure we play a clean game, so Snape hasn't got an excuse to pick on us."

Which was all very well, thought Harry, but he had another reason for not wanting Snape near him while he was playing Quidditch.

The rest of the team hung back to talk to one another as usual at the end of practice, but Harry headed straight back to the Gryffindor common room, where he found Ron and Hermione playing chess with (Y/n) reading a Muggle book. Chess was the only thing Hermione ever lost at, something Harry and Ron thought was very good for her.

"Don't talk to me for a moment," said Ron when Harry sat down next to him,

"I need to concen-" He caught sight of Harry's face.

"What's the matter with you? You look terrible." Speaking quietly so that no one else would hear but (Y/n) heard them and looked at the black-haired boy waiting for him to talk, Harry told the other three about Snape's sudden, sinister desire to be a Quidditch referee.

"Don't play," said Hermione at once.

"Say you're ill," said Ron.

"Pretend to break your leg," Hermione suggested.

"Really break your leg," said Ron.

"Ok don't do that" (Y/n) said giving Ron a pointed look

"I can't," said Harry.

"There isn't a reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all."

At that moment Neville toppled into the common room. How he had managed to climb through the portrait hole was anyone's guess, because his legs had been stuck together with what they recognized at once as the Leg-Locker Curse. He must have had to bunny-hop all the way up to Gryffindor Tower.

Everyone fell over laughing except Hermione and (Y/n), Hermione leapt up and performed the countercurse. Neville's legs sprang apart while (Y/n) helped him to his feet.

"What happened?" Hermione asked him, both girls leading him over to sit with Harry and Ron.

"Malfoy," said Neville shakily.

"I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on."

"Go to Professor McGonagall!" Hermione urged Neville.

"Report him!"

Neville shook his head.

"I don't want more trouble," he mumbled.

"You've got to stand up to him, Neville!" said Ron.

"He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier."

"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that," Neville choked out.

Harry felt in the pocket of his robes and pulled out a Chocolate

Frog, the very last one from the box Hermione had given him for Christmas. He gave it to Neville, who looked as though he might cry.

"You're worth twelve of Malfoy," Harry said.

"The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin."

Suddenly, a gentle hand rested on his shoulder and he looked up to see (Y/n)'s warm, comforting eyes. She had always been kind to Neville, going out of her way to help him in classes and make sure he was okay.

"He's right Neville, don't let him get to you," she said, her voice reassuring.

"And if you want, I read a few excellent curses from the library, and we can practice them on that idiot any time we want." A mischievous smirk spread across her face before she ruffled Neville's hair, making him feel at ease. Neville felt grateful for (Y/n)'s presence in his life. She had become a close friend and confidant, always there to offer a kind word or a helping hand. Her offer to defend him against his bully made him feel safe and protected, and he knew that he could always count on her.

Neville's lips twitched in a weak smile as he unwrapped the frog.

"Thanks, Harry and (Y/n) . . . I think I'll go to bed. . . . D'you want the card, Harry you collect them, don't you?"

As Neville walked away after saying good night to the quartet, Harry looked at the Famous Wizard card.

"Dumbledore again," he said,

"He was the first one I ever-"

He gasped. He stared at the back of the card. Then he looked up at Ron, (Y/n) and Hermione.

"I've found him!" he whispered.

"I've found Flamel! I told you I'd read the name somewhere before, I read it on the train coming here listen to this: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel' !"

Hermione jumped to her feet. She hadn't looked so excited since they'd gotten back the marks for their very first piece of homework.

As soon as the words "Stay there!" escaped her lips, she raced up the stairs with lightning speed, leaving Harry and Ron looking at each other with confusion written all over their faces. They both turned towards (Y/n) seeking some explanation for Hermione's sudden departure, but she simply shrugged her shoulders, equally baffled. Moments later, Hermione reappeared, clutching an enormous ancient tome tightly in her arms, panting heavily from the exertion of her sprint.

"I never thought to look in here!" she whispered excitedly.

"I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"Light?" said Ron, but Hermione told him to be quiet until she'd looked something up, and started flicking frantically through the pages, muttering to herself. At last, she found what she was looking for.

"I knew it! I knew it!"

"Are we allowed to speak yet?" said Ron grumpily. Hermione ignored him.

"Nicolas Flamel," she whispered dramatically,

"Wait the maker of the Sorcerer's Stone?" (Y/n) said, now she remembered the name when she saw the book she borrowed from Hermione a week ago, making Hermione nod her head

This didn't have quite the effect she'd expected.

"The what?" said Harry and Ron.

"Oh, honestly, don't you two read? Look- read that, there."

She pushed the book toward them, and Harry and Ron read:

The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal. There have been many reports of the Sorcerer's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover. Mr Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight).

"See?" said Hermione, when Harry and Ron had finished.

"The dog must be guarding Flamel's Sorcerer's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it, that's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"

"A stone that makes gold and stops you from ever dying!" said Harry.

"No wonder Snape's after it! Anyone would want it."

"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry," said Ron.

"He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"

"Clearly he likes life a little bit too much" (Y/n) said as Ron snorted at her little remake

The next morning in Defense Against the Dark Arts, while copying down different ways of treating werewolf bites, Harry and Ron were still discussing what they'd do with a Sorcerer's Stone if they had one. It wasn't until Ron said he'd buy his own Quidditch team that Harry remembered about Snape and the coming match.

"I'm going to play," he told the other three.

"If I don't, all the Slytherins will think I'm just too scared to face Snape. I'll show them... it'll really wipe the smiles off their faces if we win."

"Just as long as we're not wiping you off the field," said Hermione.

"Don't worry I know you can win even with Snape being there" (Y/n) gave Harry a smile that eased him a little

But as the match drew nearer, however, Harry became more and more nervous, whatever he told his friends. The rest of the team wasn't too calm, either. The idea of overtaking Slytherin in the House Championship was wonderful, no one had done it for seven years, but would they be allowed to, with such a biased referee? Harry didn't know whether he was imagining it or not, but he seemed to keep running into Snape wherever he went. At times, he even wondered whether Snape was following him, trying to catch him on his own. Potions lessons were turning into a sort of weekly torture, Snape was so horrible to Harry. Could Snape possibly know they'd found out about the Sorcerer's Stone? Harry didn't see how he could yet he sometimes had the horrible feeling that Snape could read minds.

Harry knew, when they wished him good luck outside the locker rooms the next afternoon, that Ron and Hermione were wondering whether they'd ever see him alive again. This wasn't what you'd call comforting. Harry hardly heard a word of Wood's pep talk as he pulled on his Quidditch robes and picked up his Nimbus Two Thousand.

Regarding (Y/n), she was noticeably absent when Hermione and Ron wished Harry good luck, which left Harry feeling a bit disappointed. He was hoping for some comfort from his best friend, as he usually does when he needs it. Her smile always reassures him that everything will be alright. However, he didn't know, she was waiting for him outside the locker room until he finished changing.

Ron and Hermione, meanwhile, had found a place in the stands next to Neville, who couldn't understand why they looked so grim and worried, or why they had both brought their wands to the match. Little did Harry know that Ron and Hermione had been secretly practising the Leg-Locker Curse with (Y/n). They'd gotten the idea from Malfoy using it on Neville and were ready to use it on Snape if he showed any sign of wanting to hurt Harry.

"Now, don't forget, it's Locomotor Mortis," Hermione muttered as Ron slipped his wand up his sleeve.

"I know," Ron snapped. "Don't nag."

Back in the locker room, Wood had taken Harry aside.

"Don't want to pressure you, Potter, but if we ever need an early capture of the Snitch it's now. Finish the game before Snape can favour Hufflepuff too much."

"The whole school's out there!" said Fred Weasley, peering out of the door.

"Even - blimey - Dumbledore's come to watch!"

Harry's heart somersaulted.

"Dumbledore?" he said, dashing to the door to make sure. Fred was right. There was no mistaking that silver beard. Harry could have laughed out loud with relief. He was safe. There was simply no way that Snape would dare to try to hurt him if Dumbledore was watching.

At that moment, he caught a glimpse of the girl he craved to see, and she gave him a smile that he had been yearning for. It was the kind of smile that lit up her whole face and made his heart skip a beat. He turned his attention to Wood, who seemed preoccupied with his own nervousness. Sensing an opportunity, he made his way towards the girl, his chest filled with anticipation. As he approached, he noticed that she was holding a bright orange flower in her hand, which added to her already radiant appearance.

"Hey" Harry said returning her smile feeling himself forgetting about Snape instantly.

(Y/n) felt her heart race a little. "Hey, sorry I didn't meet you with Ron and Mione here," she said, her hand outstretched, holding a delicate flower. The boy's eyes flickered to the flower, momentarily confused.

"Oh, er- thanks?" he said, taking the flower from her. He was a bit bewildered as to why she was giving him a flower before his match, but he accepted it graciously nonetheless.

As he looked at the flower in his hand, (Y/n) continued speaking, her voice soft and gentle.

"This is an Azalea," she said.

"I've taken an interest in reading about flowers over the past few days, and I found out that this one symbolizes good luck. So, I stayed behind for a bit, looking for one around the school grounds. I also charmed it so you can keep it alive in your pocket."

Seeing the smile on her friend's face, (Y/n) felt a sense of pride and contentment. She was glad she could do something to help ease his nerves before the big match.

As Harry was about to reply he heard Wood's voice

"Potter!? For Gryffindor's sake, this isn't the time to lose a child!"

(Y/n) chuckled giving Harry a quick hug before backing up "You should go before Wood come over and drag you to the match"

Harry nodded tucking the small flower in his quidditch ropes

"Oh and Harry" he looked back at the (H/c) headed girl

"I know you will win"

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

"I've never seen Snape look so mean," he told Hermione.

"Look - they're off. Ouch!"

Someone had poked Ron in the back of the head. It was Malfoy.

"Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn't see you there."

Malfoy grinned broadly at Crabbe and Goyle.

"Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time? Does anyone want a bet? What about you, Weasley?"

Ron didn't answer; Snape had just awarded Hufflepuff a penalty because George Weasley had hit a Bludger at him. Hermione, who. had all her fingers crossed in her lap, was squinting fixedly at Harry, who was circling the game like a hawk, looking for the Snitch.

"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" said Malfoy loudly a few minutes later, as Snape awarded Hufflepuff another penalty for no reason at all.

"It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money - you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."

Neville went bright red but turned in his seat to face Malfoy.

A Slytherin girl with black short hair and Hazel eyes spoke up, directing her words towards a younger boy who was known as Malfoy.

"You know Malfoy, if that's how they pick quidditch players, maybe you would be up for it next year. I mean, I am sure they did pity for having such a shitty father," she said, her eyes glaring with anger. Malfoy retorted with a sneer,

"Shut up Davies, at least I have a family." The group then turned their attention to Neville as he spoke up.

"I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy," he stammered.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle howled with laughter, but Ron, still not daring to take his eyes from the game, said,

"You tell him, Neville."

"Longbottom, if brains were gold you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something."

Ron's nerves were already stretched to the breaking point with anxiety about Harry.

"I'm warning you, Malfoy - one more word -"

"Ron!" said Hermione suddenly, "Harry - !"

"What? Where?"

Harry had suddenly gone into a spectacular dive, which drew gasps and cheers from the crowd. Harry streaked toward the ground like a bullet.

While (Y/n) was watching him anxiously as she stayed with Regulus in the Slytherin stands.

Regulus tried to convince the girl to stay with her friends by asking,

"Are you sure you don't want to stay with your friends?" He could see the stress in her eyes as she watched the match.

"Regulus, I've told you before that I don't want you to watch the match alone. Besides, Mione and Ron have each other. They should be fine without me," she replied, occasionally taking her eyes off the match to glance at the boy.

Regulus chuckled. "Well, I guess you're too stubborn to reason with. So, who do you think will win?"

"I don't know. It's hard to cheer on when your two friends are on opposite teams," she said, rolling her eyes at him.

"Well, I guess it would be. I mean, you do have a thing for befriending skeers," he teased.

"It's not li- OMG, REGULUS, LOOK! HE HAS THE SNITCH!" she exclaimed, pointing to the match.

Back to the other Gryffindors

"You're in luck, Weasley, Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!" said Malfoy. Ron snapped. Before Malfoy knew what was happening, Ron was on top of him, wrestling him to the ground. Neville hesitated, then clambered over the back of his seat to help.

"Come on, Harry!" Hermione screamed, leaping onto her seat to watch as Harry sped straight at Snape - she didn't even notice Malfoy and Ron rolling around under her seat, or the scuffles and yelps coming from the whirl of fists that was Neville, Crabbe, and Goyle.

Up in the air, Snape turned on his broomstick just in time to see something scarlet shoot past him, missing him by inches - the next second, Harry had pulled out of the dive, his arm raised in triumph, the Snitch clasped in his hand.

The stands erupted; it had to be a record, no one could ever remember the Snitch being caught so quickly.

"Ron! Ron! Where are you? The game's over! Harry's won! We've won! Gryffindor is in the lead!" shrieked Hermione, dancing up and down on her seat and hugging Parvati Patil in the row in front.

Harry jumped off his broom, a foot from the ground. He couldn't believe it. He'd done it - the game was over; it had barely lasted five minutes. As Gryffindors came spilling onto the field, he saw Snape land nearby, white-faced and tight-lipped - then Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up into Dumbledore's smiling face.

"Well done," said Dumbledore quietly, so that only Harry could hear.

"Nice to see you haven't been brooding about that mirror . . .been keeping busy . . . excellent . . ."

Snape spat bitterly on the ground.

Harry left the locker room alone some time later, to take his Nimbus Two Thousand back to the broomshed. He couldn't ever remember feeling happier. He'd really done something to be proud of now - no one could say he was just a famous name any more. The evening air had never smelled so sweet. He walked over the damp grass, reliving the last hour in his head, which was a happy blur:

Gryffindors running to lift him onto their shoulders; Ron and Hermione were in the distance, jumping up and down, Ron cheering through a heavy nosebleed. Harry had reached the shed. He leaned against the wooden door and looked up at Hogwarts, with its windows glowing red in the setting sun. Gryffindor is in the lead. He'd done it, he'd shown Snape. . . .

And speaking of Snape . . .

A hooded figure came swiftly down the front steps of the castle. Clearly not wanting to be seen, it walked as fast as possible toward the forbidden forest. Harry's victory faded from his mind as he watched. He recognized the figure's prowling walk. Snape, sneaking into the forest while everyone else was at dinner - what was going on?

Harry jumped back on his Nimbus Two Thousand and took off. Gliding silently over the castle he saw Snape enter the forest at a run. He followed.

The trees were so thick he couldn't see where Snape had gone. He flew in circles, lower and lower, brushing the top branches of trees until he heard voices. He glided toward them and landed noiselessly in a towering beech tree.

He climbed carefully along one of the branches, holding tight to his broomstick, trying to see through the leaves. Below, in a shadowy clearing, stood Snape, but he wasn't alone.

Quirrell was there, too. Harry couldn't make out the look on his face, but he was stuttering worse than ever. Harry strained to catch what they were saying.

"d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus"

"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private," said Snape, his voice icy.

"Students aren't supposed to know about the Sorcerer's Stone, after all."

Harry leaned forward. Quirrell was mumbling something. Snape interrupted him.

"Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"

"B-b-but Severus, I -"

"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell," said Snape, taking

a step toward him.

"I-I don't know what you -"

"You know perfectly well what I mean."

An owl hooted loudly, and Harry nearly fell out of the tree. He steadied himself in time to hear Snape say,

"- your little bit of hocus-pocus. I'm waiting."

"B-but I d-d-don't -"

"Very well," Snape cut in.

"We'll have another little chat soon when you've had time to think things over and decide where your loyalties lie."

He threw his cloak over his head and strode out of the clearing.

It was almost dark now, but Harry could see Quirrell, standing quite still as though he was petrified.

"Harry, where have you been?" Hermione squeaked.

"We won! You won! We won!" shouted Ron, thumping Harry on the back.

"I told you. You'll win" (Y/n) which made Ron nod happily.

"And I gave Malfoy a black eye, and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed! He's still out cold but Madam Pomfrey says he'll be all right - talk about showing Slytherin! Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens."

"Never mind that now," said Harry breathlessly.

"Let's find an empty room, you wait 'til you hear this...."

He made sure Peeves wasn't inside before shutting the door behind them, and then he told them what he'd seen and heard.

"So we were right, it is the Sorcerer's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy - and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocuspocus'- I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through -"

"So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" said Hermione in alarm.

"It'll be gone by next Tuesday," said Ron.

"Guess we have to keep an eye on him until then" (Y/n) mumbled to the other three.

Quirrell, however, must have been braver than they'd thought. In the weeks that followed he did seem to be getting paler and thinner, but it didn't look as though he'd cracked yet.

Every time they passed the third-floor corridor, Harry, Ron, (Y/n), and Hermione would press their ears to the door to check that Fluffy was still growling inside. Snape was sweeping about in his usual bad temper, which surely meant that the Stone was still safe.

Whenever Harry passed Quirrell these days he gave him an encouraging sort of smile, and Ron had started telling people off for laughing at Quirrell's stutter.

Hermione, however, had more on her mind than the Sorcerer's Stone. She had started drawing up study schedules and colour-coding all her notes while (Y/n) studied with her for a bit before constantly switching to her books about flowers or novels. Harry and Ron wouldn't have minded, but Hermione kept nagging them to do the same.

"Hermione, the exams are ages away."

"Ten weeks," Hermione snapped.

"That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel."

"But we're not six hundred years old," Ron reminded her.

"Anyway, what are you studying for, you already know it all."

"What am I studying for? Are you crazy? Do you realize we need to pass these exams to get into the second year? They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's gotten into me."

Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione. They piled so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones. It was hard to relax with Hermione next to you reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood or practicing wand movements. Moaning and yawning, Harry and Ron spent most of their free time in the library with her and (Y/n), trying to get through all their extra work.

"I'll never remember this," Ron burst out one afternoon, throwing down his quill and looking longingly out of the library window.

(Y/n) could see the frustration written all over Ron's face as he let out a deep sigh and put down his quill.

"Oh come on Ron don't give up just yet," she encouraged him, hoping to lift his spirits. Ron turned to look at her, his expression a mix of annoyance and exhaustion.

"Easy for you to say. You're as bad as Hermione - there's nothing you don't know," he grumbled.

(Y/n) rolled her eyes at him, but couldn't help but smile at his comment.

"That's not true Ron. I'm as bad in history as Malfoy is bad at being nice," she retorted with a smirk, hoping to inject some humour into the situation.

To her relief, Ron let out a laugh and picked up his quill once more, his determination renewed.

(Y/n) watched him for a moment, feeling a sense of satisfaction at having helped him, before returning her attention to her own book.

It was the first really fine day they'd had in months. The sky was a clear, forget-me-not blue, and there was a feeling in the air of summer coming. Harry, who was looking up "Dittany" in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, didn't look up until he heard Ron say,

"Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

Hagrid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back. He looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.

"Jus' lookin'," he said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once.

"An' what're you lot up ter?" He looked suddenly suspicious.

"Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," said Ron impressively.

"And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St -"

"Shhhh!" Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening.

"Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," said Harry,

"about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy -"

"SHHHH!" said Hagrid again. "Listen - come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh -"

"See you later, then," said Harry.

Hagrid shuffled off.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" said Hermione thoughtfully.

"Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?"

"It might have" Said (Y/n)

"I'm going to see what section he was in," said Ron, who'd had enough of working. He came back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms and slammed them down on the table.

"Dragons!" he whispered.

"Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these: Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide."

"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever met him," said Harry.

"But it's against our laws," said Ron. "Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709 everyone knows that. It's hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden - anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."

"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" said Harry.

"Of course there are," said Ron.

"Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget."

"So what on earth's Hagrid up to?" said Hermione.

"Do you think he is going to buy one?" (Y/n) questioned as the other three shrugged

When they knocked on the door of the gamekeeper's hut an hour later, they were surprised to see that all the curtains were closed.

Hagrid called

"Who is it?"

Before he let them in he shut the door quickly behind them. It was stifling hot inside. Even though it was such a warm day, there was a blazing fire in the grate. Hagrid made them tea and offered them stoat sandwiches, which they refused.

"So - yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?"

"Yes," said Harry. There was no point beating around the bush.

"We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Sorcerer's Stone apart from Fluffy."

Hagrid frowned at him.

"O' course I can't," he said. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts - I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy."

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here," said Hermione in a warm, flattering voice. Hagrid's beard twitched and they could tell he was smiling.

"We only wondered who had done the guarding, really." Hermione went on.

"We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."

Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words. Harry, (Y/n) and Ron beamed at Hermione.

"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that let's see he borrowed Fluffy from me then some o' the teachers did enchantments Professor Sprout - Professor Flitwick - Professor McGonagall -" he ticked them off on his fingers,

"Professor Quirrell - an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

"Snape?"

"Yeah - yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it."

Harry knew the other three were thinking the same as he was. If Snape had been in on protecting the Stone, it must have been easy to find out how the other teachers had guarded it. He probably knew everything - except, it seemed, Quirrell's spell and how to get past Fluffy.

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" said Harry anxiously.

"And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," said Hagrid proudly.

"Well, that's something," Harry muttered to the others.

"Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling."

"Can't, Harry, sorry," said Hagrid. Harry noticed him glance at the fire. Harry looked at it, too.

"Hagrid - what's that?"

But he already knew what it was. In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg.

"Ah," said Hagrid, fiddling nervously with his beard,

"That's - er"

"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" said Ron, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg.

"It must've cost you a fortune."

"Won it," said Hagrid.

As (Y/n) gazed at the mysterious object before her, a sense of wonder and excitement filled her.

"It's a dragon egg, isn't it?" she asked eagerly, unable to contain her anticipation at the prospect of witnessing the hatching of a magical creature. Hagrid, noticing her enthusiasm, nodded in confirmation, his own excitement mirroring hers. Together, they stood in awe, eagerly anticipating the arrival of a new and wondrous being.

"Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."

"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" said Hermione.

"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'," said Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow.

"Got this outta the library - Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit - it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on 'em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here - how ter recognize diff 'rent eggs - what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."

He looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione didn't.

"Hagrid, you live in a wooden house," she said.

But Hagrid wasn't listening. He was humming merrily as he stoked the fire. So now they had something else to worry about: what might happen to Hagrid if anyone found out he was hiding an illegal dragon in his hut.

"Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life," Ron sighed, as evening after evening they struggled through all the extra homework they were getting. Hermione had now started making study schedules for Harry and Ron, too. It was driving them nuts. Then, one breakfast time, Hedwig brought Harry another note from Hagrid. He had written only two words:

It's hatching.

Ron wanted to skip Herbology and go straight down to the hut. Hermione wouldn't hear of it.

"Hermione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?"

"We've got lessons, we'll get into trouble, and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing -"

"Shut up!" Harry whispered.

Malfoy was only a few feet away and he had stopped dead to listen. How much had he heard? Harry didn't like the look on Malfoy's face at all.

(Y/n) leaned in towards her friends and spoke in a hushed tone,

"I don't know about you guys, but I think it's best if we don't discuss this topic right now. There's a noisy Slytherin over there who seems to be trying to eavesdrop on our conversation."

As she glanced over, she noticed Malfoy intently listening in, confirming her suspicions. Harry nodded in agreement and quickly motioned for them to leave, pulling their two friends along with them as they made their way away from the curious blonde.

Ron and Hermione argued all the way to Herbology and in the end, Hermione agreed to run down to Hagrid's with the other two during morning break. When the bell sounded from the castle at the end of their lesson, the four of them dropped their trowels at once and hurried through the grounds to the edge of the forest. Hagrid greeted them, looking flushed and excited.

"It's nearly out." He ushered them inside.

The egg was lying on the table. There were deep cracks in it. Something was moving inside; a funny clicking noise was coming from it. They all drew their chairs up to the table and watched with bated breath.

All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open.

The baby dragon flopped onto the table. It wasn't exactly pretty; Harry thought it looked like a crumpled, black umbrella. Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body, it had a long snout with wide nostrils, stubs of horns and bulging, orange eyes.

It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout.

"Isn't he beautiful ?" Hagrid murmured. He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs.

"Bless him, look, he knows his mommy!" said Hagrid.

"Aww he's so cute Hagrid" (Y/n) said in awe as she looked at the baby dragon

"Hagrid," said Hermione,

"how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?"

Hagrid was about to answer when the colour suddenly drained from his face - he leapt to his feet and ran to the window.

"What's the matter?"

"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains - it's a kid - he's runnin' back up ter the school."

Harry bolted to the door and looked out. Even at a distance, there was no mistaking him.

Malfoy had seen the dragon.

Something about the smile lurking on Malfoy's face during the next week made Harry, Ron, (Y/n), and Hermione very nervous. They spent most of their free time in Hagrid's darkened hut, trying to reason with him.

"Just let him go," Harry urged.

"Set him free."

"I can't," said Hagrid.

"He's too little. He'd die."

"Hagrid if you don't they would take you both away" The (E/c) eyed girl tried to back her friend but Hagrid didn't seem to be cooperating

They looked at the dragon. It had grown three times in length in just a week. Smoke kept furling out of its nostrils. Hagrid hadn't been doing his gamekeeping duties because the dragon was keeping him so busy. There were empty brandy bottles and chicken feathers all over the floor.

"I've decided to call him Norbert," said Hagrid, looking at the dragon with misty eyes.

"He really knows me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where's Mommy?"

"He's lost his marbles," Ron muttered in Harry's ear.

"Hagrid," said Harry loudly,

"Give it two weeks and Norbert's going to be as long as your house. Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment."

Hagrid bit his lip.

"I - I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus' dump him, can't."

Harry suddenly turned to Ron.

"Charlie," he said.

"You're losing it, too," said Ron.

"I'm Ron, remember?"

"No - Charlie - your brother, Charlie. In Romania. Studying dragons. We could send Norbert to him. Charlie can take care of him and then put him back in the wild!"

"Brilliant!" said Ron.

"How about it, Hagrid?"

And in the end, Hagrid agreed that they could send an owl to Charlie to ask him.

The following week he was dragged by. Wednesday night found Hermione and Harry sitting alone in the common room, long after everyone else had gone to bed. The clock on the wall had just chimed midnight when the portrait hole burst open. Ron appeared out of nowhere as he pulled off Harry's Invisibility Cloak. He had been down at Hagrid's hut, helping him feed Norbert, who was now eating dead rats by the crate.

"It bit me!" he said,

showing them his hand, which was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief.

"I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me he told me off for frightening it. And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby."

There was a tap on the dark window.

"It's Hedwig!" said Harry, hurrying to let her in.

"She'll have Charlie's answer!"

The three of them put their heads together to read the note.

Dear Ron, How are you? Thanks for the letter - I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon. Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark. Send me an answer as soon as possible. Love, Charlie

They looked at one another.

"We've got the Invisibility Cloak," said Harry.

"It shouldn't be too difficult - I think the cloak's big enough to cover two of us and Norbert."

It was a mark of how bad the last week had been that the other two agreed with him. Anything to get rid of Norbert - and Malfoy. There was a hitch. By the next morning, Ron's bitten hand had swollen to twice its usual size. He didn't know whether it was safe to go to Madam Pomfrey - would she recognize a dragon bite? By the afternoon, though, he had no choice. The cut had turned a nasty shade of green. It looked as if Norbert's fangs were poisonous. Harry, Hermione and (Y/n) rushed up to the hospital wing at the end of the day to find Ron in a terrible state in bed.

"It's not just my hand," he whispered,

"Although that feels like it's about to fall off. Malfoy told Madam Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me - I've told her it was a dog, but I don't think she believes me - I shouldn't have hit him at the Quidditch match, that's why he's doing this."

(Y/n) was fuming with anger and frustration. "That little git!" she exclaimed, her face flushed with rage. She couldn't believe how Malfoy was enjoying Ron's misery and taking pleasure in their predicament. She was also deeply troubled by the thought of the baby dragon being taken away to an unknown location if they found him. As she looked away from her friends, she couldn't contain her emotions any longer and let out an exasperated "ugh." In the midst of her distress, Harry attempted to console her while Hermione focused on calming Ron down.

"It'll all be over at midnight on Saturday," said Hermione, but this didn't soothe Ron at all. On the contrary, he sat bolt upright and broke into a sweat.

"Midnight on Saturday!" he said in a hoarse voice.

"Oh no - oh no - I've just remembered - Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took, he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert."

Harry, (Y/n) and Hermione didn't get a chance to answer. Madam Pomfrey came over at that moment and made them leave, saying Ron needed sleep.

"It's too late to change the plan now," Harry told Hermione and (Y/n).

"We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl, and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert. We'll have to risk it. And we have got the Invisibility Cloak, Malfoy doesn't know about that."

Harry and Hermione decided to follow (Y/n)'s suggestion and leave for their mission, while she stayed behind to keep Ron's company. (Y/n) had a strong feeling that the cloak they were going to use to transport themselves along with Norbert, the dragon, would not be able to handle the weight of three people and a dragon. Hermione, who was quick to agree, knew that the fewer people, the better, as bringing more people could potentially cause problems and attract unwanted attention.

After they dropped (Y/n) at the hospital wing they went to Hagrid and they found Fang the boarhound sitting outside with a bandaged tail when they went to tell Hagrid, who opened a window to talk to them.

"I won't let you in," he puffed.

"Norbert's at a tricky stage - nothin' I can't handle."

When they told him about Charlie's letter, his eyes filled with tears, although that might have been because Norbert had just bitten him on the leg.

"Aargh! It's all right, he only got my boot - jus' playin' - he's only a baby, after all."

The baby banged its tail on the wall, making the windows rattle. Harry and Hermione walked back to the castle feeling Saturday couldn't come quickly enough. They would have felt sorry for Hagrid when the time came for him to say goodbye to Norbert if they hadn't been so worried about what they had to do. It was a very dark, cloudy night, and they were a bit late arriving at Hagrid's hut because they'd had to wait for Peeves to get out of their way in the entrance hall, where he'd been playing tennis against the wall. Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large crate.

"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," said Hagrid in a muffled voice.

"An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely."

From inside the crate came ripping noises that sounded to Harry as though the teddy was having his head torn off.

"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed, as Harry and Hermione covered the crate with the Invisibility Cloak and stepped underneath it themselves. "Mommy will never forget you!"

How they managed to get the crate back up to the castle, they never knew. Midnight ticked nearer as they heaved Norbert up the marble staircase in the entrance hall and along the dark corridors.

Up another staircase, then another - even one of Harry's shortcuts didn't make the work much easier.

"Nearly there!" Harry panted as they reached the corridor beneath the tallest tower.

Then a sudden movement ahead of them made them almost drop the crate. Forgetting that they were already invisible, they shrank into the shadows, staring at the dark outlines of two people grappling with each other ten feet away. A lamp flared. Professor McGonagall, in a tartan bathrobe and a hair net, had Malfoy by the ear.

"Detention!" she shouted. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you -"

"You don't understand, Professor. Harry Potter's coming - he's got a dragon!"

"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on - I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"

The steep spiral staircase up to the top of the tower seemed the easiest thing in the world after that. Not until they'd stepped out into the cold night air did they throw off the cloak, glad to be able to breathe properly again. Hermione did a sort of jig.

"Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!"

"Don't," Harry advised her.

Chuckling about Malfoy, they waited, Norbert thrashing about in his crate. About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness. Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. They showed Harry and Hermione the harness they'd rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them. They all helped buckle Norbert safely into it and then Harry and Hermione shook hands with the others and thanked them very much.

At last, Norbert was going . . . going . . . gone.

They slipped back down the spiral staircase, their hearts as light as their hands, now that Norbert was off them. No more dragon - Malfoy in detention - what could spoil their happiness? The answer to that was waiting at the foot of the stairs. As they stepped into the corridor, Filch's face loomed suddenly out of the darkness.

"Well, well, well," he whispered,

"We are in trouble."

"Do you think they made it?" Ron lay in bed, tiredness was evident in his voice, a result of the healing potions Madam Pomfrey had given him. Sitting beside him was (Y/n), her red heart necklace in her hand, caressing it gently. Her thoughts were running wild, wondering if their friends had made it, worrying about Ron's state, and of course, pondering over the secret of the necklace she held in her hands.

The girl appeared to be in deep thought as she spoke,

"With Malfoy sticking his nose in, it would be quite challenging to get past the professors. The cloak may make you invisible, but it doesn't make you untouchable." She let out a sigh and shifted her gaze towards her friend who was lying down on the hospital bed.

Ron tried to lighten the mood with a joke, "You know, I would have preferred getting bit by your snake over Norbert any time of the day."

The girl couldn't help but laugh at his comment, "Oh, please! You're just a scaredy cat, Weasley. Did you really think I didn't notice how you sat away from me when I sneaked Nitor into Charms class?" Her tone was teasing as she playfully nudged Ron's good arm.

Ron raised an eyebrow while looking at the girl in front of him.

"Well, what kind of an idiot brings a snake to class? I thought you wanted to keep him hidden?" he asked.

The girl shrugged and replied, "He was bored and wanted to tag along. Besides, he was doing nothing but coiling around my arm under my sleeve."

Suddenly, they heard a voice coming from the staff room in the hospital wing. Their hearts skipped a beat as they turned around to see who was coming out. To their relief, it was Leonora. They breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that she wouldn't punish them for (Y/n) being out late in the hospital wing.

"(Y/n)? Madam Pomfrey told me what happened to Ron while I was working on healing potions but what are you doing here?" Said the older woman, Madam Pomfrey, who had apparently filled in Leonora about Ron's condition while she was busy working on healing potions.

However, when she noticed (Y/n) in the room, she couldn't help but ask her why she was there. "I came to see Ron actually I know I should be in bed but I wanted to make sure he's alright," The girl said, looking somewhat embarrassed, explaining why she had come to see Ron.

Ron remained silent, letting his friend do the talking on his behalf.

Leonora, however, wasn't convinced. She asked, "Hmm well then while you're here do you mind explaining why Ron has a poisonous dragon bite on his hand".

Both Ron and (Y/n) became visibly nervous. Leonora's tone became more serious as she revealed that it had taken a lot of convincing to keep Madam Pomfrey from reporting the incident. She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, clearly annoyed by the situation.

"Salazar Rose I thought I was done picking up after you" she mumbles as she looks back at the two kids who were looking down ashamed they were found out

"Well?" Leonora raised an eyebrow signaling for one of them to talk

As for Harry and Hermione, they left the Invisibility Cloak on top of the tower. Things couldn't have been worse. Filch took them down to Professor McGonagall's study on the first floor, where they sat and waited without saying a word to each other. Hermione was trembling. Excuses, alibis, and wild cover-up stories chased each other around Harry's brain, each more feeble than the last. He couldn't see how they were going to get out of trouble this time. They were cornered. How could they have been so stupid as to forget the cloak? There was no reason on earth that Professor McGonagall would accept for their being out of bed and creeping around the school in the dead of night, let alone being up the tallest Astronomy Tower, which was out-of-bounds except for classes. Add Norbert and the Invisibility Cloak, and they might as well be packing their bags already. Had Harry thought that things couldn't have been worse? He was wrong. When Professor McGonagall appeared, she was leading Neville.

"Harry!" Neville burst out, the moment he saw the other two.

"I was trying to find you to warn you, I heard Malfoy saying he was going to catch you, he said you had a drag -"

Harry shook his head violently to shut Neville up, but Professor McGonagall had seen. She looked more likely to breathe fire than Norbert as she towered over the three of them.

"I would never have believed it of any of you. Mr. Filch says you were up in the Astronomy Tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. Explain yourselves."

It was the first time Hermione had ever failed to answer a teacher's question. She was staring at her slippers, as still as a statue.

"I think I've got a good idea of what's been going on," said Professor McGonagall.

"It doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?"

Harry caught Neville's eye and tried to tell him without words that this wasn't true because Neville was looking stunned and hurt.

Poor, blundering Neville - Harry knew what it must have cost him to try and find them in the dark, to warn them.

"I'm disgusted," said Professor McGonagall.

"Four students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before! You, Miss Granger, I thought you had more sense. As for you, Mr. Potter, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. All three of you will receive detentions - yes, you too, Mr. Longbottom, nothing gives you the right to walk around school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous - and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor."

"Fifty?" Harry gasped - they would lose the lead, the lead he'd won in the last Quidditch match.

"Fifty points each," said Professor McGonagall, breathing heavily through her long, pointed nose.

"Professor - please -"

"You can't -"

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Potter. Now get back to bed, all of you. I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students."

A hundred and fifty points were lost. That put Gryffindor in last place. In one night, they'd ruined any chance Gryffindor had had for the House Cup. Harry felt as though the bottom had dropped out of his stomach. How could they ever make up for this?

After explaining what had happened to them Leonora sighed

The woman with curly hair looked at the two first-year students with a sense of urgency and determination. "Well come on, I am taking you back to your dorm," she said, which made both Ron and (Y/n) look at her in confusion.

Ron's expression was one of disbelief, "Wait, that's it?" he asked in surprise.

(Y/n) too was astonished, "You're not going to report this to Professor Dumbledore?" she exclaimed. Leonora, the curly-haired woman, looked at them with a frown and shook her head.

"What do you think I am, a snitch?" she asked indignantly.

"You guys solved the problem anyways, why would I report it to Dumbledore? If I wanted to do that, I would have done it the moment Madam Pomfrey rushed to my office asking for an antidote for Ron."

Both kids let out a breath of relief. The thought of getting in trouble with the headmaster was too much to bear. But right now, (Y/n) had to focus on getting out of the hospital wing without being seen.

"But right now, we have to get you out of here before someone else sees you. Come on," Leonora continued, making them nod in agreement. (Y/n) bid Ron goodbye as she and Leonora left the hospital wing.

As they were strolling towards the Gryffindor common room, the head girl with (H/c) hair remembered something that had been bothering her for quite some time. She fidgeted with a necklace that lay in her pocket and then turned to the older woman walking beside her.

"Um, Leonora?" she asked hesitantly, seeking her attention.

Leonora, her companion, turned to her with a curious expression.

"Do you think you could tell me what this necklace does?" The girl inquired, her eyes hopeful. Leonora's gaze fell on the girl's hand and she noticed something familiar that she hadn't seen in eleven years. Her heart began pounding furiously in her chest as she remembered the necklace instantly, causing her to stop in her tracks. The eleven-year-old stopped too, looking up at her with a questioning expression.

"Where did you get this?" Leonora asked nervously, trying to keep her voice from breaking in front of the girl.

"I-it was sent to me last Christmas, and I was going to ask you about it, but you were always busy in the hospital wing working until late at night. I didn't want to interrupt you because I saw how hard you were working," the girl explained.

Leonora gently took the necklace from the little girl, holding it with care as she examined it closely. Her eyes softened as she looked at the piece of jewelry and a sad smile appeared on her lips.

"That was your mother's favourite necklace," she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

"The first one your father gave to her when we were in our fifth year at Hogwarts."

The girl looked up at Leonora with curious eyes, intrigued by the story behind the necklace.

"When I wore it, it showed me something like a vision or a memory," she explained, her voice trailing off. "I think... I don't know. It happens only when I wear it."

Intrigued, Leonora decided to try the necklace on herself. But to her surprise, nothing happened. The necklace remained still and lifeless, unlike how it had reacted when the little girl had worn it in her room.

"Why doesn't it work?" the girl asked, looking up at Leonora with a puzzled expression.

"Maybe it's bewitched only for you to see the things inside of it," Leonora suggested, handing the necklace back to the little girl. They found themselves standing in front of Gryffindor's common room, and Leonora knew it was time for the girl to rest.

"Well, I think you should rest for a while. We will see that necklace another time, yeah?" she said, smiling kindly at the girl while ruffling her hair making it a bit missy.

The little girl nodded and entered the common room after saying the password, feeling a little tired. She didn't notice Hermione sitting on her bed, waiting for her to come back.

"Where have you been?!" Hermione whispered, yelling so as not to wake up the other girls in the dorm.

"Where have I been? I thought you guys should have picked me up after sending Norbert away. Where have you been?" the little girl whispered back, raising an eyebrow at Hermione as she threw herself onto her own bed.

"McGonagall caught us and took a hundred and fifty points out of our house points because she thought we tricked Neville and Malfoy into thinking there was a dragon," Hermione explained, her voice filled with frustration.

The girl sat up so fast that Hermione thought she would be suffering from a whiplash.

"What!?" she exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock.

Harry didn't sleep all night. He could hear Neville sobbing into his pillow for what seemed like hours.

Harry couldn't think of anything to say to comfort him. He knew Neville, like himself, was dreading the dawn. What would happen when the rest of Gryffindor found out what they'd done? At first, Gryffindors passing the giant hourglasses that recorded the House points the next day thought there'd been a mistake. How could they suddenly have a hundred and fifty points fewer than yesterday? And then the story started to spread: Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter, their hero of two Quidditch matches, had lost them all those points, he and a couple of other stupid first years.

From being one of the most popular and admired people at the school, Harry was suddenly the most hated. Even Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on him because everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the House Cup. Everywhere Harry went, people pointed and didn't trouble to lower their voices as they insulted him. Slytherins, on the other hand, clapped as he walked past them, whistling and cheering,

"Thanks, Potter, we owe you one!"

Only Ron stood by him while (Y/n) ran off after some kids in their year for insulting the boy.

"They'll all forget this in a few weeks. Fred and George have lost loads of points in all the time they've been here, and people still like them."

"They've never lost a hundred and fifty points in one go, though, have they?" said Harry miserably.

"Well - no," Ron admitted.

It was a bit late to repair the damage, but Harry swore to himself not to meddle in things that weren't his business from now on.

He'd had it with sneaking around and spying. He felt so ashamed of himself that he went to Wood and offered to resign from the Quidditch team.

"Resign?" Wood thundered.

"What good'll that do? How are we going to get any points back if we can't win at Quidditch?"

But even Quidditch had lost its fun. The rest of the team wouldn't speak to Harry during practice, and if they had to speak about him, they called him "the Seeker."

Hermione and Neville were suffering, too. They didn't have as bad a time as Harry, because they weren't as well-known, but nobody would speak to them, either. Hermione had stopped drawing attention to herself in class, keeping her head down and working in silence. Harry was almost glad that the exams weren't far away. All the studying he had to do kept his mind off his misery. He, (Y/n), Ron, and Hermione kept to themselves, working late into the night, trying to remember the ingredients in complicated potions, learn charms and spells by heart, memorize the dates of magical discoveries and goblin rebellions. . . .

Then, about a week before the exams were due to start, Harry's new resolution not to interfere in anything that didn't concern him was put to an unexpected test. Walking back from the library on his own one afternoon, he heard somebody whimpering from a classroom up ahead. As he drew closer, he heard Quirrell's voice.

"No - no - not again, please -"

It sounded as though someone was threatening him. Harry moved closer.

"All right - all right -" he heard Quirrell sob.

Next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the classroom straightening his turban. He was pale and looked as though he was about to cry. He strode out of sight; Harry didn't think Quirrell had even noticed him. He waited until Quirrell's footsteps had disappeared, then peered into the classroom. It was empty, but a door stood ajar at the other end. Harry was halfway toward it before he remembered what he'd promised himself about not meddling.

All the same, he'd have gambled twelve Sorcerer's Stones that Snape had just left the room, and from what Harry had just heard, Snape would be walking with a new spring in his step - Quirrell seemed to have given in at last. Harry went back to the library, where Hermione was testing Ron on Astronomy and (Y/n) was trying to memorize spells from DADA. Harry told them what he'd heard.

"Snape's done it, then!" said Ron.

"If Quirrell's told him how to break his Anti-Dark Force spell -"

"There's still Fluffy, though," said Hermione.

"Maybe Snape's found out how to get past him without asking Hagrid," said Ron, looking up at the thousands of books surrounding them.

"I bet there's a book somewhere in here telling you how to get past a giant three-headed dog. So what do we do, Harry?"

The light of adventure was kindling again in Ron's eyes, but Hermione answered before Harry could.

"Go to Dumbledore. That's what we should have done ages ago. If we try anything ourselves we'll be thrown out for sure."

"Or we could just mind our own business" (Y/n) said as she knew how what would happen to them if they were caught yet again, especially Harry and Hermione.

Plus she has her own secret she wants to discover and she won't be able to if she gets expelled from Hogwarts especially not because Snape wants a lot of money and a long life.

"Oh come on (N/n) not you too!"

"Come on Mione do you think Dumbledore will believe us?"

"And we've got no proof!" said Harry backing up his best friend.

"Quirrell's too scared to back us up. Snape's only got to say he doesn't know how the troll got in at Halloween and that he was nowhere near the third floor - who do you think they'll believe him or us? It's not exactly a secret we hate him, Dumbledore thinks we made it up to get him sacked. Filch wouldn't help us if his life depended on it, he's too friendly with Snape, and the more students get thrown out, the better, he'll think. And don't forget, we're not supposed to know about the Stone or Fluffy. That'll take a lot of explaining."

Hermione looked convinced, but Ron didn't.

"If we just do a bit of poking around -"

"No," said Harry flatly,

"we've done enough poking around."

He pulled a map of Jupiter toward him and started to learn the names of its moons.

The following morning, notes were delivered to Harry, Hermione, and Neville at the breakfast table. They were all the same:

Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight. Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall.

Harry had forgotten they still had detentions to do in the furore over the points they'd lost. He half expected Hermione to complain that this was a whole night of studying lost, but she didn't say a word. Like Harry, she felt they deserved what they'd got.

At eleven o'clock that night, they said goodbye to Ron and (Y/n) in the common room and went down to the entrance hall with Neville. Filch was already there - and so was Malfoy. Harry had also forgotten that Malfoy had gotten a detention, too.

"Follow me," said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading them outside.

"I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?" he said, leering at them.

"Oh yes . . . hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me. . . . It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out . . . hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well oiled in case they're ever needed. . . . Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do."

They marched off across the dark grounds. Neville kept sniffing.

Harry wondered what their punishment was going to be. It must be something really horrible, or Filch wouldn't be sounding so delighted. The moon was bright, but clouds scudding across it kept throwing them into darkness. Ahead, Harry could see the lighted windows of Hagrid's hut. Then they heard a distant shout.

"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started."

Harry's heart rose; if they were going to be working with Hagrid it wouldn't be so bad. His relief must have shown on his face because Filch said,

"I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, boy - it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece."

At this, Neville let out a little moan, and Malfoy stopped dead in his tracks.

"The forest?" he repeated, and he didn't sound quite as cool as usual.

"We can't go in there at night - there are all sorts of things in there- werewolves, I heard."

Neville clutched the sleeve of Harry's robe and made a choking noise.

"That's your problem, isn't it?" said Filch, his voice cracking with glee.

"Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?"

Hagrid came striding toward them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.

"Abou' time," he said.

"I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, Harry, Hermione?"

"I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid," said Filch coldly,

"they're here to be punished, after all."

"That's why yer late, is it?" said Hagrid, frowning at Filch.

"Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here."

"I'll be back at dawn," said Filch,

"for what's left of them," he added nastily, and he turned and started back toward the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness.

Malfoy now turned to Hagrid.

"I'm not going in that forest," he said, and Harry was pleased to hear the note of panic in his voice.

"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts," said Hagrid fiercely.

"Yeh've done wrong an' now yeh've got ter pay fer it."

"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this, he'd -"

"- tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts," Hagrid growled.

"Copyin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or yeh'll get out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on!"

Malfoy didn't move. He looked at Hagrid furiously but then dropped his gaze.

"Right then," said Hagrid,

"Now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment."

He led them to the very edge of the forest. Holding his lamp up high, he pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees. A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the forest.

"Look there," said Hagrid,

"see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."

"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" said Malfoy, unable to keep the fear out of his voice.

"There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang," said Hagrid.

"An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff 'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."

"I want Fang," said Malfoy quickly, looking at Fang's long teeth.

"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward," said Hagrid.

"So me, Harry, an' Hermione'll go one way an' Draco, Neville, an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practice now - that's it - an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh - so, be careful - let's go."

The forest was black and silent. A little way into it they reached a fork in the earth's path, and Harry, Hermione, and Hagrid took the left path while Malfoy, Neville, and Fang took the right. They walked in silence, their eyes on the ground. Every now and then a ray of moonlight through the branches above lit a spot of silver-blue blood on the fallen leaves. Harry saw that Hagrid looked very worried.

"Could a werewolf be killing the unicorns?" Harry asked.

"Not fast enough," said Hagrid.

"It's not easy ter catch a unicorn, they're powerful magic creatures. I never knew one ter be hurt before."

They walked past a mossy tree stump. Harry could hear running water; there must be a stream somewhere close by. There were still spots of unicorn blood here and there along the winding path.

"You all right, Hermione?" Hagrid whispered.

"Don' worry, it can't've gone far if it's this badly hurt, an' then we'll be able ter - GET BEHIND THAT TREE!"

Back at the common room

Ron and (Y/n) were sitting in the common room, trying to study while waiting for Harry and Hermione to return from their detention. Ron looked up from his Charms book and asked,

"What do you think they would make them do at detention?"

(Y/n) groaned and closed her Transfiguration book. She felt bad for not going with Harry and Hermione when they were sending Norbert away and was worried about what Flinch might make them do.

"I don't know, but I bet it can't be good as long as Malfoy is there," she said, frowning as she thought about Flinch's sick love for torturing kids.

"Don't stress too much, they'll be just fine," Ron tried to comfort her, patting her back. (Y/n) chuckled.

"Weird how lately one of us always ends up comforting the other when we're stressed," she said, and Ron smiled at her words, feeling a sense of brotherly warmth.

"Well, you're like a second Ginny, only if she wasn't so annoying sometimes," Ron teased. (Y/n) gasped and looked at him with a fake hurt look in her eyes.

"Oh, Ronniekins and I thought we had something special! Way to break my heart, mate," she put her hand on her forehead dramatically, pretending to be heartbroken. Ron laughed and threw his head back, forgetting about their books.

"Come on now, why would you want me when you have three golden boys always at your tail?" Ron teased again, and (Y/n) raised an eyebrow, looking at him quizzically.

"Three who?" she asked, and Ron mimicked her expression.

"Three you. What do you mean by three who? You know who I am talking about: Cedric, Regulus, and Harry," he said, and (Y/n) gasped again.

"What? No way, that's not true. I mean, first, Cedric is too old for me-"

"Two years aren't that much," Ron interrupted.

"-Second, Regulus, I don't know, but I just have this 'ugh' feeling when you mentioned us-"

"You know that's just a phase, right?"

"-And lastly, Harry? Are you for real? That's my best friend, Ron. He isn't at 'my tail all the time.'"

"Oh, come on, seriously? Harry looks at you with little hearts in his eyes," Ron said, and at his words, (Y/n)'s heart skipped a beat, but she shook her head in disbelief.

The conversation between the two was getting heated as they argued back and forth.

"He does not," she insisted firmly, her voice betraying her frustration.

"He does, yes," the other person countered with equal force.

"Does not!"

"Does yes!"

At that moment, (Y/n) spoke up, addressing Ron,

"Didn't you just say that I'm like a second Ginny? I didn't know brothers could play matchmakers and set up their sisters with their best friends," she said with a hint of sarcasm. Ron couldn't help but laugh at her comment, causing (Y/n) to roll her eyes.

"Whatever, you're insufferable," (Y/n) finally said, giving up on the argument.

"And you're delusional, but you don't see me complaining," Ron smirked, looking at (Y/n) with a sense of victory as he saw her face and her inability to come up with a retort.

(Y/n) glared at Ron, feeling frustrated and embarrassed. She longed to wipe the smirk off his face but didn't know how.

"Ugh, I can't take this anymore. I'm going to wait for them in my dorm," she said, snatching her books and trying to hide her flustered expression.

Ron's laughter only made things worse, and she felt like she had become the target of his amusement for the last few minutes.

"Study by yourself!" (Y/n) shouted as she stormed off towards the girls' dorm, not wanting to study with Ron anymore.

Despite her irritation, she couldn't help but smile softly at the sound of his laugh echoing through the common room.

Back to detention

Hagrid seized Harry and Hermione and hoisted them off the path behind a towering oak. He pulled out an arrow and fitted it into his crossbow, raising it, ready to fire. The three of them listened. Something was slithering over dead leaves nearby: it sounded like a cloak trailing along the ground. Hagrid was squinting up the dark path, but after a few seconds, the sound faded away.

"I knew it," he murmured.

"There's summat in here that shouldn' be."

"A werewolf?" Harry suggested.

"That wasn' no werewolf an' it wasn' no unicorn, neither," said Hagrid grimly.

"Right, follow me, but careful, now."

They walked more slowly, ears straining for the faintest sound.

Suddenly, in a clearing ahead, something definitely moved.

"Who's there?" Hagrid called.

"Show yerself - I'm armed!"

And into the clearing came - was it a man, or a horse? To the waist, was a man, with red hair and beard, but below that was a horse's gleaming chestnut body with a long, reddish tail. Harry and Hermione's jaws dropped.

"Oh, it's you, Ronan," said Hagrid in relief.

"How are yeh?"

He walked forward and shook the centaur's hand.

"Good evening to you, Hagrid," said Ronan. He had a deep, sorrowful voice.

"Were you going to shoot me?"

"Can't be too careful, Ronan," said Hagrid, patting his crossbow.

"There's summat bad loose in this forest. This is Harry Potter an' Hermione Granger, by the way. Students up at the school. An' this is Ronan, you two. He's a centaur."

"We'd noticed," said Hermione faintly.

"Good evening," said Ronan.

"Students, are you? And do you learn much, up at the school?"

"Erm -"

"A bit," said Hermione timidly.

"A bit. Well, that's something." Ronan sighed. He flung back his head and stared at the sky.

"Mars is bright tonight."

"Yeah," said Hagrid, glancing up, too.

"Listen, I'm glad we've run inter yeh, Ronan, 'cause there's a unicorn bin hurt - you seen anythin'?"

Ronan didn't answer immediately. He stared unblinkingly upward, then sighed again.

"Always the innocent are the first victims," he said.

"So it has been for ages past, so it is now."

"Yeah," said Hagrid,

"but have yeh seen anythin', Ronan? Anythin' unusual?"

"Mars is bright tonight," Ronan repeated, while Hagrid watched him impatiently.

"Unusually bright."

"Yeah, but I was meanin' anythin' unusual a bit nearer home," said Hagrid.

"So yeh haven't noticed anythin' strange?"

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

A movement in the trees behind Ronan made Hagrid raise his bow again, but it was only a second centaur, black-haired and -bodied and wilder-looking than Ronan.

"Hullo, Bane," said Hagrid.

"All right?"

"Good evening, Hagrid, I hope you are well?"

"Well, enough. Look, I've jus' bin askin' Ronan, you seen anythin' odd in here lately? There's a unicorn bin 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 you do see anythin', let me know, won't yeh? We'll be off, then."

Harry and Hermione followed him out of the clearing, staring over their shoulders at Ronan and Bane until the trees blocked their view.

"Never," said Hagrid irritably,

"try an' get a straight answer out of a centaur. Ruddy stargazers. Not interested in anythin' closer'n the moon."

"Are there many of them in here?" asked Hermione.

"Oh, a fair few. . . . Keep themselves to themselves mostly, but

they're good enough about turnin' up if ever I want a word. They're deep, mind, centaurs . . . they know things . . . jus' don' let on much."

"D'you think that was a centaur we heard earlier?" said Harry.

"Did that sound like hooves to you? Nah, if yeh ask me, that was what's bin killin' the unicorns - never heard anythin' like it before."

They walked on through the dense, dark trees. Harry kept looking nervously over his shoulder. He had the nasty feeling they were being watched. He was very glad they had Hagrid and his crossbow with them. They had just passed a bend in the path when Hermione grabbed Hagrid's arm.

"Hagrid! Look! Red sparks, the others are in trouble!"

"You two wait here!" Hagrid shouted.

"Stay on the path, I'll come back for yeh!"

They heard him crashing away through the undergrowth and stood looking at each other, very scared, until they couldn't hear anything but the rustling of leaves around them.

"You don't think they've been hurt, do you?" whispered Hermione.

"I don't care if Malfoy has, but if something's got Neville . . . it's our fault he's here in the first place."

The minutes dragged by. Their ears seemed sharper than usual. Harry's seemed to be picking up every sigh of the wind, every cracking twig. What was going on? Where were the others?

At last, a great crunching noise announced Hagrid's return. Malfoy, Neville, and Fang were with him. Hagrid was fuming. Malfoy, it seemed, had sneaked up behind Neville and grabbed him as a joke. Neville had panicked and sent up the sparks.

"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin'. Right, we're changin' groups - Neville, you stay with me an' Hermione, Harry, you go with Fang an' this idiot. I'm sorry," Hagrid added in a whisper to Harry,

"but he'll have a harder time frightenin' you, an' we've gotta get this done."

So Harry set off into the heart of the forest with Malfoy and Fang. They walked for nearly half an hour, deeper and deeper into the forest, until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick. Harry thought the blood seemed to be getting thicker. There were splashes on the roots of a tree, as though the poor creature had been thrashing around in pain close by. Harry could see a clearing ahead, through the tangled branches of an ancient oak.

"Look -" he murmured, holding out his arm to stop Malfoy. Something bright white was gleaming on the ground. They inched closer.

It was the unicorn all right, and it was dead. Harry had never seen anything so beautiful and sad. Its long, slender legs were stuck out at odd angles where it had fallen and its mane was spread pearly-white on the dark leaves.

Harry had taken one step toward it when a slithering sound made him freeze where he stood. A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered. . . . Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast. Harry, Malfoy, and Fang stood transfixed. The cloaked figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the animals side, and began to drink its blood.

"AAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

Malfoy let out a terrible scream and bolted - so did Fang. The hooded figure raised its head and looked right at Harry - unicorn blood was dribbling down its front. It got to its feet and came swiftly toward Harry - he couldn't move for fear.

Then a pain like he'd never felt before pierced his head; it was as though his scar were on fire. Half blinded, he staggered backwards.

He heard hooves behind him, galloping, and something jumped clean over Harry, charging at the figure.

The pain in Harry's head was so bad he fell to his knees. It took a minute or two to pass. When he looked up, the figure had gone. A centaur was standing over him, not Ronan or Bane; this one looked younger; he had white-blond hair and a palomino body.

"Are you all right?" said the centaur, pulling Harry to his feet.

"Yes - thank you - what was that?"

The centaur didn't answer. He had astonishingly blue eyes, like pale sapphires. He looked carefully at Harry, his eyes lingering on the scar that stood out, livid, on Harry's forehead.

"You are the Potter boy," he said.

"You had better get back to Hagrid. The forest is not safe at this time - especially for you. Can you ride? It will be quicker this way.

"My name is Firenze," he added, as he lowered himself onto his front legs so that Harry could clamber onto his back.

There was suddenly a sound of more galloping from the other side of the clearing. Ronan and Bane came bursting through the trees, their flanks heaving and sweaty.

"Firenze!" Bane thundered.

"What are you doing? You have a human on your back! Have you no shame? Are you a common mule?"

"Do you realize who this is?" said Firenze.

"This is the Potter boy. The quicker he leaves this forest, the better."

"What have you been telling him?" growled Bane.

"Remember, Firenze, we are sworn not to set ourselves against the heavens. Have we not read what is to come in the movements of the planets?"

Ronan pawed the ground nervously.

"I'm sure Firenze thought he was acting for the best," he said in his gloomy voice.

Bane kicked his back legs in anger.

"For the best! What is that to do with us? Centaurs are concerned with what has been foretold! It is not our business to run around like donkeys after stray humans in our forest!"

Firenze suddenly reared onto his hind legs in anger, so that Harry had to grab his shoulders to stay on.

"Do you not see that unicorn?" Firenze bellowed at Bane.

"Do you not understand why it was killed? Or have the planets not let you in on that secret? I set myself against what is lurking in this forest, Bane, yes, with humans alongside me if I must."

And Firenze whisked around; with Harry clutching on as best he could, they plunged off into the trees, leaving Ronan and Bane behind them.

Harry didn't have a clue what was going on.

"Why's Bane so angry?" he asked.

"What was that thing you saved me from, anyway?"

Firenze slowed to a walk, and warned Harry to keep his head bowed in case of low-hanging branches, but did not answer Harry's question.

They made their way through the trees in silence for so long that Harry thought Firenze didn't want to talk to him anymore.

They were passing through a particularly dense patch of trees, however, when Firenze suddenly stopped.

"Harry Potter, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"

"No," said Harry, startled by the odd question.

"We've only used the horn and tail hair in Potions."

"That is because it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn," said Firenze.

"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 stared at the back of Firenze's head, which was dappled silver in the moonlight.

"But who'd be that desperate?" he wondered aloud.

"If you're going to be cursed forever, death's better, isn't it?"

"It is," Firenze agreed,

"unless 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. Mr. Potter, do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"

"The Sorcerer's Stone! Of course - the Elixir of Life! But I don't understand who -"

"Can you think of nobody who has waited many years to return to power, who has clung to life, awaiting their chance?"

It was as though an iron fist had clenched suddenly around Harry's heart. Over the rustling of the trees, he seemed to hear once more what Hagrid had told him on the night they had met:

"Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die."

"Do you mean," Harry croaked,

"that was Vol -"

"Harry! Harry, are you all right?"

Hermione was running toward them down the path, Hagrid puffing along behind her.

"I'm fine," said Harry, hardly knowing what he was saying.

"The unicorns dead, Hagrid, it's in that clearing back there."

"This is where I leave you," Firenze murmured as Hagrid hurried off to examine the unicorn.

"You are safe now."

Harry slid off his back.

"Good luck, Harry Potter," said Firenze. "The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times."

He turned and cantered back into the depths of the forest, leaving Harry shivering behind him.

[swimmingnewsie]

Of Coffee and Cookies (Chapter 14)

...There was a reason I didn’t write fic in undergrad. But we keep pushing and keep going! Thank you for sticking with me and please enjoy this transitory chapter!

Link to AO3

---

Elsa’s head throbbed as she stared at her laptop. She knew there was work to be done, but the sight of her to-do list made her heart ache and stomach drop. Her mind was contorted with images and thoughts she didn’t want and certainly didn't need in this moment.

She took a deep breath, attempting to get some grasp on the anxiety that plagued her. Her worries came one after another after another. Anna was doing better than when they first arrived home, but Elsa couldn't help but be afraid she would regress any second. She knew that her sister didn't need her walking on eggshells; she knew that, but she couldn't help worrying anyway.

"She looks a lot more confident today."

Maren's words pulled her from her thoughts. They were working at the cafe, just like old times. Originally it was to help make Anna more comfortable going to work after the hearing; but if Elsa was honest with herself, it alleviated her own anxieties as well. Anna was safe, and no one was going to touch her on their watch. Even if it meant Elsa wasn't getting much of her own work done.

Elsa hummed in agreement. Talking was difficult today. It wasn't as bad as in her childhood when she would go silent for days or weeks at a time; but there was an old comfort in the silence. Words only cluttered her brain.

Silence.

Silence.

Silence was what let him destroy her. Silence kept her as his prisoner. Silence stopped anyone from helping.

"Elsa?"

Maren's voice brought her back again, releasing her from her thoughts. Elsa looked onward, desperately trying not to feel the anxiety coursing through her body. Her eyes squinted shut as if that were the key to shutting out her thoughts. Maren's hand was warm in here. A gentle squeeze helped center her, actually bringing herself back.

"I'm okay," she said hesitantly.

Maren gave her that look, the disbelieving look that Elsa was very familiar with. "You're not. You're shaking."

"Sorry." There wasn't anything else she could say. She hated worrying Maren like this, not when there were so many other things that she could be focusing on. "I'm okay, promise. We need to get our grading done."

"There's time for that later, snowflake. I'm more worried about you." Maren's expression softened, giving her another soft squeeze. "How many cups of coffee have you had today?"

Elsa groaned. Her caffeine habits had been a frequent argument lately. She knew it made her anxieties worse; she knew she should cut back. But it made her feel like there was some kind of control, some kind of power to get her work done. Even if it wasn't the healthiest manner.

She shook what was left of her americano- her standard with two extra shots. "Only number two," she admitted softly.

Maren sighed, looking at her. "That's still ten shots of espresso, Elsa. That's not healthy You know that." Elsa could practically see her girlfriend running the numbers in her head. "800 milligrams of caffeine is double what a healthy adult should have."

"Only 750," Elsa replied, giving a small shrug. "I ordered regular, not blonde."

"You aren't helping your case. When is the last time you slept properly?"

Elsa sighed. She knew it did her no good to lie, even if it left her pride in tact. "I'm still going to bed every night, I promise." It was the truth. She simply went to bed at midnight and was up by five the next morning. Sure, she was exhausted, but at least she had the semblance of getting something done in her long hours.

Maren gave her what Elsa affectionately referred to as her teacher look, soft yet firm. "You need to relax. I know the stress you're under but you don't have to bear it alone." Maren reached forward, taking the last of her coffee. "And we should probably switch you to decaf."

"Maren," she began to protest when her girlfriend threw away her coffee, but her resolve didn't last long. She wasn't sure if it was the caffeine, her exhaustion, or love, but Elsa's heart ached. And when Maren wrapped her arms around her, she was a goner. Tears of exhaustion and worry let themselves out without her consent.

And for once, Elsa didn't mind. Anna was busy with a customer, so she wouldn't see or worry. With Maren's arms wrapped around her, Elsa let her vulnerability bleed through. It was okay to let it go.

"Let's go home."

---

"You are insane."

"Oh come on! When's the last time you've climbed a tree?"

Kristoff shook his head with a smile. "When my knees didn't crack every time I bent down."

"That's far too long! Come on, old man! It'll be perfect."

"Old man?!" Before Kristoff could protest again, Ryder was off scrambling up the large oak. "You're an idiot!" he called up with a laugh, before following him up the tree.

"Yeah, but I'm your idiot," Ryder shouted down.

Climbing was harder than Kristoff remembered. Since he took the job at Mermaid's Siren all those years ago, he hadn't spent as much time out in the woods as he wanted. Walks with Sven were generally in city blocks these days compared to the winding fields he grew up on. This park, however, felt like home.

Ryder looked down at him, smile warm and eyes bright.

It felt like home in more ways than one.

Kristoff knew deep down that he and Ryder would not get back together. He knew that he needed to move on and continue to let Ryder grow in his own right. That their friendship, while deep, would never go back to those as lovers. He was getting there slowly, but some part of him still ached for the feeling of before.

"Come on, slowpoke!"

Kristoff laughed. "I'm coming! Not all of us are graced with your athletic gifts!"

Ryder laughed in return, settling on a study branch overlooking the large park. Soon enough Kristoff was beside him, taking in the warm sun. The view was enough to make him gasp. "Beautiful right?"

Kristoff nodded, relishing in the overwhelming feeling of peace. An orange glow cast over park, the sun preparing itself to set. It reminded him of being a kid, desperate to find where the sun went at night, chasing it until his mom called him and his brother in for the night. "Do you come here a lot?"

"Not as much as I used to. But when Dad took me and Mare to the park I always made a point to climb as high as I could. Helped me think sometimes," he shrugged. "And I figured we could both use a little help clearing our heads."

Kristoff scoffed. Of course Ryder could tell something was up. Then again, everything had been up since the trial. His mom called it a turning point in all of their lives, and that couldn't be more true.

"Maybe a little."

"Maybe a lot, blondie," he teased.

The nickname made him smile. It wasn't too much, certainly not something he called him while they were dating, but it let Ryder be affectionate. And Kristoff would be lying if he said he didn't like it.

Kristoff sighed, swinging his legs back and forth. "Is this all that we're meant to be doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I've just felt stuck lately I guess. With everything that's happened, I feel like I'm not where I'm supposed to be. I don't want to be some stupid barista for the rest of my life you know? But I don't know what to be instead. I don't want to go back to school and I don't want to stay at Mermaid's and I don't know what a good option is anymore."

Working in retail wasn't thrilling for everyone if anyone, he knew that. The customers seemed to be getting worse and worse by the day, though. It was near impossible to put up with their new upper management, especially after all the crap they had given Anna over the hearing. But the benefits were good, and he was able to afford a crummy little apartment for himself. He couldn't throw it all away like it was nothing.

Kristoff picked at the bark. "I know it's stupid."

Suddenly Ryder's hand was on his. "It's not stupid. I understand. Not feeling where you're meant to be."

Kristoff raised his eyebrow. "You do?"

Ryder nodded, absentmindedly looking into the distance. "Especially with all this," he awkwardly motioned around his body, "I feel like there's somewhere... Something better for me."

Kristoff gave a nod, sighing. "I wish there was some easy fix for it all. Something to go by."

Ryder gave his hand a quick squeeze. "There may not be a guide to go by, but that doesn't mean you have to go it alone."

Kristoff gave a small huff of a laugh. "Yeah?"

He leaned in a bit, pressing forward. "Yeah. We'll both find out places."

Kristoff smiled leaning in himself. Was Ryder going to kiss him? Weren't they-

His balance fell out from under him, and with the help of quick reflexes, he was hanging upside down in the tree.

"Are you okay?!"

Ryder was hanging off the side of the tree reaching to give him a hand. Kristoff breathed in relief, panting from fear and embarrassment. Maybe he wasn't so good at reading the signs after all.

"...I'm good."

---

Anna rubbed at her eyes. It made sense to her that her nightmares had gotten worse, but it didn't make them any easier to manage. Nor was it any easier to go back to sleep after them. Hearing the sound of a clacking keyboard, she decided to get up and investigate.

Elsa was typing away feverishly on some report or other, her reading glasses practically falling off her face. A quick glance at the clock, told her it was time to intervene. They both needed sleep.

"Elsa?" she said quietly, trying not to spook her sister. Despite the efforts, her sister jumped. "Sorry, it's just me," she said softly.

Elsa's gaze softened as she turned to her. "It's okay. What are you doing up, sunshine?" she asked scooting over to give Anna some space on the couch.

Anna easily settled in, laying her head against Elsa's shoulder. "I should ask you the same thing," she said, pointing to the stacks of papers around them.

"I asked first," she said, taking her glasses off and resting against the couch.

"Same as always," Anna murmured, playing with the strings on her pajama pants. "Bad dreams about you-know-who."

"You want to talk about it? You know I'll listen."

Anna shook her head. Her sister had been a saint these last few weeks, but Anna didn't think it did her any good to ruminate on a dream she had already had three times this week. "Same one as last night. What's keeping you up?"

"Nothing really," Elsa shrugged. "A little bit of this and a little bit of that. Nothing important."

"Elsa..." She didn't believe her sister for a second. The day's makeup had worn off revealing dark baggy eyes. Not to mention it wasn't the first time she had heard Elsa typing late into the night. "Please don't hide this from me. We said no more secrets."

"First Maren, now you." Elsa sighed, giving Anna some relief. She wasn't going to hide this time. "I'm really behind on work is the issue. And my insomnia and anxiety seem to be conspiring against me," she mumbled.

Anna gave her own sad sigh. She couldn't help but feel like it was her fault. If all this hadn't happened, then her sister wouldn't be worrying her to sleeplessness. She wouldn't have been nearly as stressed or worried. She wouldn't-

"Hey," Elsa gave her hand a light squeeze, " don't blame yourself for my clerical errors."

"How did you-"

"I know that look, sunshine." Elsa poked her sister's nose, the same way their mama used to. Anna gave a small smile, enjoying the familiar comfort. "I promise, you don't need to worry about this. I can manage."

Anna's smile fell a bit. "You can, but you don't have to do it alone. You've done so much for me, how can I help you?"

"Anna, you really don't need to. I promise." Elsa gave a small yawn. "I'm okay."

Anna sighed, knowing this wasn't a battle she would win at the moment. But she could still help. "Will you lay down with me for a bit?" She saw the look of contemplation on her sister's face, weighing the pros of working versus sleeping. She couldn't help but feel happy when Elsa ultimately shut the laptop.

Soon they were both snuggled into Elsa's bed warm and content. Resting her head against Elsa's chest, Anna smiled. She had done something good, something right. And before she could even say her goodnight, she drifted off feeling better than she had in days.

[onthevirgeofdestruction]

Storytime!

Sanders Sides Canon Divergence AU - fluff/angst - hurt/comfort - some intrigue - actually has a plot (side eyes my other fics) - largely Virgil centric - it’s about growth i guess idk

Words: 4,035 Warnings: Big-ass spiders, zombie mentions, death mentions, gore mentions. Characters: Virgil, Patton, Roman, Logan, Remus, Janus Universe: Storytime! Genre: Half-Fluff, Half-Idoicy

Chapter 27: In Which There are Even Bigger Spiders Than Beeps

Virgil is doing good but everyone else has some questions and nobody has answers

chapter 1 for new readers - ffn mirror

   Virgil didn’t realize the meeting was today, so he was thankful for Roman’s note. Time must have gotten away from him. He was so focused on Thomas's schedule he had kind of forgotten his own. It was one thing to skip breakfast and another thing entirely to skip a meeting he agreed to. The last few times he skipped were kind of eventful for him so the other sides would freak out for sure. Luckily, Virgil had already started his ‘Patton’ story the other day, and while he was still delirious from Deceit’s room, he could conceivably pull off not killing or maiming anyone by the end. It was much easier to convince himself it would all be okay right now, and he knew that feeling would fade the longer he sat in his room.

   Pat liked stories that were sentimental or sweet, which Virgil probably couldn’t come up with no matter how much of Deceit’s influence helped him. But he also likes animal stories, especially talking animals. Finding inspiration in his lack of ability had worked out before, so the story was about a little boy who couldn’t stop having nightmares. It was all he could think about in the day and he couldn’t sleep at night. The little boy tossed a coin in a fountain and wished for good sleep. So a magic psychic bat came that night and granted his wish for just one night of pleasant dreams so he could be upbeat for his little sister’s birthday party.

   That was another thing he could relate to, but he really doubted Pat could figure out this one. Virgil’s magic bat was a golden snake with venom that hid his fears from himself so his friends could like him more. That was a stretch unless Logan had somehow figured out what was going on and told Pat. But Deceit would have told him if that had happened, so there was no point in worrying about that. Realizing he didn’t have to worry was a bizarre sensation for Virgil. He was so damn grateful for his magic psychic bat.

   Virgil finished up the story with a little time to spare. He’d love to go waste time with one of the sides, but it still seemed like a bad idea. He could maybe make a new friend, though. He could feel the overcharged feeling in his veins that let him know he had enough anxious energy to burn. One who could protect his room and alert him when someone entered since Virgil was out so often. Something bigger that could defend his room and the other spiders. Virgil got up from the couch and stretched out. He reached up and stroked Beatrice, who was still sitting in his hair.

   “How about a little brother, Beatrice? A really big little brother?” Virgil asked affectionately. She stomped angrily on his head and said something unsavory. “Beeps, I’m not replacing you,” Virgil rolled his eyes. He reached up and gently stroked her again. “I’d be more willing to take you out of the room more if there was someone else here helping you and to protect you. Your smaller siblings can’t help like that,” Virgil offered. Beatrice conceded grumpily.

   Virgil cracked his knuckles and stepped into the middle of his room. A giant huntsman spider seemed appropriate. Nearly a foot of very leggy spider should keep anybody back, and the legs would be easier on Virgil to make than the big body of a goliath birdeater. Virgil focused as hard as he could and held his hand out, palm down. One this big might hurt, so he braced himself. There was a sharp pain in his palm as he focused on creating one. Virgil squeezed his eyes shut and just tried to focus on not messing up. When the sharp feeling finally subsided, Virgil peeked slightly at his hand. A big boy with much larger fangs than he intended was crawling from his palm to the top of his fingertips. He was roughly double the size of Beatrice and mostly black instead of mostly purple like her.

   “What would you like to be called?” He asked gently and reached his other hand over to feel its long delicate legs. “Voltaire? I love it. Voltaire, you’re the new room guard. You need to keep all your siblings safe while I’m out,” He said gently. Voltaire rubbed its forelegs together in acceptance and climbed up onto his shoulder. Virgil walked over to the staircase and laid down upside down, holding himself up with webbing. “So tell me what fears you’ve got,” He asked the new spider as it crawled down his arm.

   Chatting with Voltaire was nice. His fears were pretty weak, but he was big and scary, so he was perfect to deter other sides without actually hurting them. Much. Plus, he was very gallant, determined which made fun to talk to. Virgil has successfully passed the last of the time without feeling too lonely while chatting with Volt and Beeps on the stairs. Other than being pretty low on energy from making Voltaire and D’s room, he felt good about going to storytime tonight. He was looking forward to laying back and reading some stories that felt wrong. It was going to be unnerving in a fun way, which should be enjoyable instead of horrible. And that sounded nice.

—

   Virgil’s legs were over Patton’s lap and he was propped up on the couch arm reading the stories lazily. It had been pretty non-eventful when it was just Virgil and Logan in the living room, even though they were alone for a couple of minutes before Pat and Ro showed up just barely on time again. Logan seemed too distracted to talk, which he was thankful for. Remus’s story yelled at you if you didn’t read it first, so he had started with that one today, just like everyone else had given in to do.

   Remus’s story felt profoundly wrong for him, so he must have been listening in after he left last time. His protagonist didn’t die or kill anyone directly. In fact, the entire story was about avoiding action by doing other things. A funny side to pick. The protagonist partied all night and cleaned his bathroom during the peak of the zombie apocalypse. There was a literal zombie apocalypse, but he wanted cookies, so he went to the store and dodged everything. He worked at the lab making the cure and couldn’t be bothered to get up when the zombies raided it and just read comics in the security office. What an icon.

   Virgil laughed so hard he choked at the end. Patton reached out to make sure he was okay, but Virgil just chuckled and nodded while he caught his breath. Patton gave him a breezy smile and went back to reading himself, his arms holding the papers resting on his legs. Virgil dropped his hand to the floor out of Pat’s view and flipped Remus off affectionately. Remus smiled a big toothy smile of what seemed to be vindication and also gave Virgil the bird. It tweeted, which got confused looks from Roman, who checked around for a source. Remus and Virgil quickly went back to ‘innocently’ reading and Roman gave up and went back to reading when he saw nothing unusual.

   Pat’s was next, which was the ‘Virgil’ story. Patton didn’t have much dramatic irony Virgil usually had, but it was still a negative story with a bleak-ish ending. A group of teens who were camping got lost in the woods while partying. A ‘being punished for breaking the rules’ kind of theme. It would have been a great set-up for a slasher. Maybe Remus could add on to the end for Virgil and they could have a laugh about that later with Deceit. Those kinds of movies were Deceit’s guilty pleasure to watch. Patton unknowingly writing half of one might make his day.

   Roman’s ‘Logan’ story was amazing. It was fantastically gay and dry as heck. It was the most scathing thing he could have done without directly insulting Logan. College professors grading things in the coffee shop go out, but they’re both teaching med students so they didn’t ‘hold hands’, they ‘interlocked digits’. Roman must have abused a thesaurus and fell down a biology Wikipedia hole to write this. Nothing big even happened in the story other than the original gay confusion. Roman’s intent was clearly to blast Logan instead of producing an amazing story for the ages, and he mcfreakin’ succeeded.

   Logan’s ‘Roman’-style was funny for all the wrong reasons. It followed a dragon, but the dragon’s hoard was books instead of gold. The Dragon liked to make puzzles for adventurers to get lost in when trying to come to defeat him. The story was just the Dragon reading books and frying adventurer’s brains until the one who finally makes it through changes his mind because of the Dragon’s sound logic. Virgil choked on a laugh again when the adventurer conceded to the Dragon’s superior stance. Logan took that wish-fulfillment part of fantasy themes and ran with it.

   Remus had looked at him quizzically while he caught his breath again. Virgil figured he wanted to know why he laughed and showed him the navy blue font and pointed to the last paragraph. Remus switched packets and flipped pages to the last paragraph to see for himself. He broke out in a mad giggle fit, which earned some serious glares and shushing from Roman. Logan looked incredibly confused, but wouldn’t dare talk during his own rules about quiet reading time. Which was also amusing in a strange way.

   Virgil was in a great mood after laughing at the ridiculousness of these stories and placed his packets on the floor, sitting up to cuddle against the extra-warm Patton while he waited out the reading time for everyone else. Patton was surprised when Virgil wrapped his arm around him but sighed contentedly as Virgil dropped his head on Patton’s shoulder. Remus grunted at Virgil, but Virgil just rolled his eyes and mouthed ‘later’ at him. He wasn’t entirely sure what the duke wanted, but it wasn’t the time. Virgil closed his eyes and appreciated the warm heart, letting himself drift a little while he waited out the rest of the reading time.

—

   Virgil woke up sometime later to the TV playing The Office quietly, still entangled around Patton. Patton smiled and reached up to stroke his hair when he shifted. He looked around and saw all the other sides had left. He blinked the rest of the sleep from his eyes and yawned, stretching out his arms.

   “Hey, sleepyhead! You fell asleep while waiting for us to finish,” Patton said gently.

   “Oh, I’m sorry, Pat. Did I miss the discussion?” Virgil asked sleepily and rubbed his eyes.

   “Remus was pretty freaked out about the idea of waking you up, and that spooked Ro, so we decided to postpone it,” Patton responded lightly, clearly trying to sound soothing. Virgil appreciated it, honestly. It was much easier not to freak out over delaying them while everybody was so busy. Virgil released Patton and stood up to stretch his legs, followed by Patton who must have been stuck under him for a while based on the time.

   “I’m sorry I had you pinned for that long, pop,” Virgil said and rubbed the back of his head with embarrassment.

   “It was a nice cuddle, bud, don’t worry!” Patton said cheerily as he stretched out his arms. “I’ll text the others and see if they still want to do discussion today,” Virgil nodded and yawned, wrapping his arms back around Patton as Pat pulled out his phone. Patton shifted to let Virgil hug him from behind while he texted.

   “Ah, the cuddle monster has returned to the living!” Roman declared as he rose up a few moments later.

   “You guys didn’t have to reschedule for me,” Virgil mumbled quietly into Patton’s back.

   “Well, it’s not much of a discussion without you kiddo,” Patton said softly and held Virgil’s arms wrapped around his waist.

   “I’ve never seen Remus act like that in my life, I wasn’t taking the chance. It may be the only thing in the Thomas-sphere he takes seriously. He kept hissing at us to shut up and then left,” Roman explained. Virgil chuckled into Patton’s back. It was nice to have the tables turned for once. Virgil was the one scared of Remus most of the time. Logan rose as well.

   “It’s nice to hear you laugh so much these days, kiddo,” Patton commented as Virgil settled down and twisted around to give Virgil a hug.

   “Yes, what elements did you find amusing this evening, Virgil? I was curious about what diverted you and Remus. The stories didn’t include your shared sense of dark humor,” Logan asked as he sat back down on the couch.

   “Oh, man, if I knew I was going to get grilled I would have basted myself first,” Virgil rolled his eyes backed up into the couch, taking Patton down with him. Patton giggled as he stumbled down on top of Virgil.

   “That’s some… vivid imagery, Virgil,” Roman said, sounding a little confused. Patton laid on Virgil this time, seeing as Virgil wouldn’t let him go, though Virgil let him sit up on the couch. Roman and Logan sat in their regular spots.

   “Remus’s story was full of cynical humor, Lo. It was completely defeatist and relatable. I mean the world is ending, but where can I get some iced coffee? Peak mood,” Virgil supplied finally. Logan looked extremely confused for a moment. Maybe the slang did it? Logan shook it off quickly.

   “I was not aware that being a defeatist could be humorous. I will take note. Remus also chose to write differently from his regular ramblings this week. He left before we had planned to try each other’s reoccurring themes last week. It was an oddly coincidental timing on his part,” Logan said. Virgil was pretty certain Remus was listening in through Roman, but he wasn’t sure if the others knew the creativity twins were linked to each other, so changing the subject seemed safer than possibly dropping a bomb that Roman possibly didn’t want to share. Remus ‘over-share’ Sanders wasn’t here to drop it for him, anyway.

   “Ro’s story was hilarious, too,” Virgil said with a grin and a quick thumbs-up of appreciation, which he dropped lazily back around Patton after a moment and pulled himself a little closer to Patton’s warmth.

   “Thank you, Virgil, I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Roman replied with a flourish and smiled back.

   “What was funny about it? It was a cute romance with lots of big words,” Patton asked. Virgil ruffled Patton’s hair.

   “It wasn’t about the contents of the story, Pat, it was about what the writing said,” Virgil said lazily. Logan bristled.

   “Was there a theme that I potentially missed?” Logan asked and picked up his notes, scanning them quickly.

   “Perhaps this is one of those rare things that is over your head,” Roman said sarcastically with a chuckle and waved Logan off.

   “I refuse to believe that. Please explain to me what I’m missing,” Logan insisted, still scanning his notes,

   “Roman was roasting you without roasting you,” Virgil supplied flippantly.

   “Virgil, please do not include me in your strange grilling metaphor, it does not help elucidate me in the slightest,” Logan said shortly and put his notes down to glare at them.

   “Over his head,” Roman said with a bemused laugh, and Virgil joined him. Logan groaned in frustration.

   “It would not be if you simply explained it to me,” Logan grunted and crossed his arms. Roman just laughed again, which caused Logan to huff. Virgil shifted closer to Patton. He couldn’t get much closer at this angle, so just slid down behind Patton before he became a human feather boa. Patton yelped as Virgil slipped down, but he scooted forward to make space for Virgil who was now wrapped around his back. He was so warm. Virgil’s eyes fluttered for a moment.

   “Are you tired again, kiddo?” Patton asked and ruffled Virgil’s hair. Virgil grumbled slightly and lazily fixed his bangs.

   “You’re just so toasty,” Virgil mumbled into Patton’s side.

   “Sorry, it always slips out at least a little,” Patton apologized meekly.

   “No, it’s the best, never turn it off,” Virgil whined and squeezed Patton as close as he could.

   “Patton, trade with me before Virgil falls asleep again,” Roman requested, getting up and rolling his eyes in exasperation.

   “No, don’t take my space heater!” Virgil whined and grasped onto Patton, refusing to let go.

   “We’re not done talking, yet, bud, we haven’t even gotten to your story yet!” Patton said as he got up, trying to pry himself from Virgil. Virgil groaned and released him, seizing Roman as he sat down where Patton was. Roman chuckled as Virgil gripped on. Roman wasn’t warming like Pat, but Ro gave off a light charged feeling which woke him up. Pretty sneaky, sis.

   “What’s there to talk about? Mine wasn’t funny like you guys’,” Virgil groaned and nestled into Roman’s side. Even if there was a nap conspiracy, at least Virgil got nice contact. Roman giggled a little when Virgil accidentally tickled him. Then Virgil tickled him on purpose and Roman smacked him upside the head.

   “Roman, don’t hit Virgil,” Patton chided him.

   “He tickled me!” Roman objected.

   “We are extremely off subject,” Logan groaned.

   “I didn’t get the funny memo, I was just trying to figure out what I could do that Patton would like,” Virgil grumbled, rubbing his head, eying Roman suspiciously for another attack.

   “I did like it, kiddo! It was so sweet that he just wanted to make his sister happy,” Patton said with a shimmering look in his eye.

   “Oh, I didn’t think I could do sweet. Neat,” Virgil commented blithely and settled back down. “I think Pat did a ‘me’ story pretty well, though maybe more toned down,” Virgil added. Sort of like he wished he could be. Virgil hid his face in Roman’s side and frowned. Roman ruffled his hair lightly and Virgil grumbled.

   “I think it missed that fatal element, though. Pat implied the ranger would find those kids even though they wandered into the woods drunk in the daytime,” Roman supplied. “After most of Virgil’s stories, it was pretty heavily implied they didn’t make it,”

   “I tried to leave it a little vague,” Patton muttered.

   “You did, Patton. Just because one character mentioned it doesn’t mean we can assume it was to happen,” Logan reassured him and held out his hand, motioning to calm down. “Virgil, was there a reason you pointed out the final paragraph of my story to the duke?” Logan asked shortly and looked pointedly at Virgil.

   “Yes. And I’m afraid it’s also over your head, Logan,” Virgil supplied a little bitterly.

   “That’s what you guys were laughing at? Logan’s little fantasy projecting? I thought it was some dark joke I didn’t get,” Roman said, sounding disbelieving.

   “I would like to be included on this ‘great in-joke’ you two seem to have,” Logan said sourly.

   “Lo, buddy, you wouldn’t believe us if we told you,” Virgil groaned.

   “I would like you to try regardless of your assumptions,” Logan stated plainly, tapping his foot.

   “It’s your praise kink!” Remus popped up, laughing wildly. Logan jumped up in surprise and stumbled back into the couch. Patton squeaked and Roman stiffened. “It’s been later, Vi-vi, come on!” Remus whined. Virgil groaned in exasperation.

   “We’re in the middle of the discussion! You know, the ones you usually skip while you’re off gallivanting in the mind palace stabbing stuff?” Virgil said slackened from behind Roman.

   “And it’s boring!” Remus groaned.

   “Fine. I know we didn’t get to everything, but I’m going to go deal with this giant brat if we’re good here? He might blow us up or something if I don’t,” Virgil stated with a little grumble. He was having an agreeable time making fun of Logan with Roman and wasn’t ready to stop yet, but he was going to see Remus, anyway. “Does anybody object to that?”

   “Blow you up? Virgey, I would never,” Remus said, sounding fake aghast, holding his hand to his chest and fanning himself with the other. “Teeny-Tiny exploding unicorns all over the room, maybe,” He added with a sinister smirk and showed how small with his fingers, followed by spirit finger mock-explosions. Virgil grunted and pulled himself out from behind Roman.

   “Anybody? Bueller?” Virgil asked again. They all looked kind of shocked, but there was no response. The duke did have that effect on them, sometimes. “Cool, I guess,” Virgil shrugged and pushed himself off the couch, reaching on the floor for his copies of his stories. “Hey, remember Pat’s story?” Virgil asked.

   “Nobody died! Who cares!” Remus groaned, flailing his arms like limp noodles.

   “Exactly,” Virgil nodded at him and grabbed his arm. Remus’s eyes widened and a manic grin split out as they sank to the edge of the mind palace. Virgil created a simple room for them to work in with a big soft rug and a couch. “Okay, we’ve got less than two hours and maybe 30 minutes in one of our rooms, so we got to make it count. It’s the perfect setup for a slasher, right?”

   “It is!” Remus cackled. “From grandpa? Who knew!” Remus wiggled his eyebrows and grinned in delight.

   “Let’s upgrade it, then,” Virgil said, sitting down on the couch and summoning a laptop. He pressed Patton’s story on to the laptop screen and it loaded into the computer and Virgil passed it over to Remus who plopped on the couch next to him.

   “I will do nothing without at least as much contact as you gave my brother,” Remus said firmly, taking the laptop but holding it off from his lap.

   “You fucking dork,” Virgil rolled his eyes and leaned against Remus, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. “Thanks for smelling only mildly terrible,” Virgil added after a quick whiff of the air. It was vinegary and sharp, but less poop or puke smell. Not as great as strawberries but, good smells were probably a rare choice for him. 

   “It’s only fun if you need a shower afterword!” Remus sang and placed the laptop in his lap and started writing.

   “The redhead chick has to die first, she kissed that dude remember? Slasher rule,” Virgil said while Remus began writing.

   “That fuckhole who bought the wine coolers is next,” Remus said. “I’m gonna shove the empties into his intestines!” He cackled.

   “God, sick,” Virgil wrinkled his nose in distaste but chuckled, anyway.

—

   “D!” Virgil called out as he rose into Deceit’s room later that night. “I’ve got the coolest thing for you,” Virgil said excitedly.

   “Virgil, what in the world were you thinking?” Deceit demanded, sounding annoyed.

   “That you’d like it, come on, read it!” Virgil said, shoving the final story that Virgil and Remus managed to type out before the voices in the mind palace started up again or they started trying to kill each other in one of their rooms. It was quick and slapshot, but it would be funny and gruesome, nonetheless.

   “Virgil, that’s not what I’m talking about,” Deceit groaned.

   “And I’m talking about this slasher that Patton wrote half of,” Virgil said, tapping the paper and twisting around the back of Deceit and giving him a hug, nuzzling his neck.

   “You can’t be serious,” Deceit said, looking down at the paper.

   “Dead serious. Like the teens in the woods,” Virgil chuckled. That definitely got Deceit’s attention. Virgil pulled Deceit to the bed. He had already started reading as he sat down. Virgil wrapped his arms around Deceit’s waist again and nestled his face in the crook of Deceit’s neck from behind, watching him read. Deceit absentmindedly ran a hand through Virgil’s hair while he read. Virgil sighed in with contentment and closed his eyes. He hoped D would like it. He had fun writing it with Remus, at least.

personal taglist: @gdaygdaymatey @elizabutgayer​ 

taglist repository tags: 

canon divergence au:  @legendsgates @rainbowbowtie @10moonymhrivertam

virgil-centric:  @demoniccheese83 @thatgaydemigodnerd @arya-skywalker 

hurt/comfort:  @callboxkat @nonasficcollection @supernovainthenightsky

everything sanders sides:  @grouptalekindnesssoul @the-hoely-bleach @anvil527up @fanficloverinthesun  @katelynn-a-fan @dwbh888

[aswithasunbeam]

Rated: G

Summary: "The flame within him had burned too bright, too hot, too out of control, until it had consumed everything in its path: their marriage, their son, and, finally, Alexander himself. He was left exhausted and defeated in its wake. She didn’t want that—she’d never wanted him to be so guilty and broken." __ As the Election of 1800 approaches, Alexander and Eliza finally take that walk by the lake. 

                                                _________________

Eliza turned her face into her shoulder to cover a yawn before slipping her hand out of the warm cocoon of blankets, turning the page of her book. Though it was still early evening, the overcast day and the warmth of the fire both served to make her prematurely drowsy. She felt Alexander shiver beside her. Quickly gathering the blankets back around them, she snuggled against her husband. “Sorry, sweetheart.”

He gave a sleepy grunt. His breathing was slow and even, his chest rising in a steady rhythm beneath her. She twisted around so she could see his face.

“Do you still have chills?”

“Mm.”

She wasn’t sure he’d even heard the question. Stretching up, she pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Honey? You need to wake up. You’ll never be able to sleep tonight.”

He rarely slept through the night these days. The nightmares saw to that. All too often she found him slumped over his desk or dozing in the parlor at odd hours.

“I’m awake.” His bruised lids fluttered before falling closed again.

She reached towards him to run the back of her fingers along his cheek. He leaned into the affectionate gesture, but a wry smile began around the corners of his mouth. “I don’t have a fever, if that’s what you’re checking.”

No, he didn’t, she confirmed. If only it were something so simple. Fevers, at least, she knew how to fix. When she shifted again, his arm snaked around her waist to keep her close.

“Stay. I’m cold.”

He was always cold lately. The flame within him had burned too bright, too hot, too out of control, until it had consumed everything in its path: their marriage, their son, and, finally, Alexander himself. He was left exhausted and defeated in its wake. She didn’t want that—she’d never wanted him to be so guilty and broken.

“Why don’t we take a walk?” she suggested with forced lightness.  

His eyelids peeled open at last. “A walk?”

“To the lake,” she said. “The fresh air will do you good.”

He frowned in a way she felt sure meant he was going to refuse. Rather than let him, she pushed aside her book and the blankets, rose, and brushed the lint from her dress before reaching out to take his hand. “Come on. Walk with me.”

With a tired sigh, he nodded, and let her pull him up from the sofa.

After affixing their cloaks, they set out into the cool, gray twilight. The back of her hand bumped his as they walked, and she twisted hers around to press her palm to his, their fingers entwining. His fingers felt icy. She rubbed a circle with her thumb over his hand, hoping to encourage his blood to circulate.

Dried leaves and undergrowth crunched under her boots as she led the way through the forest path, using her free hand to push away stray branches while she tugged her husband along with the other. His breathing sounded heavy in the quiet. When she glanced back, he paid her a weak smile. The muted hoot of an owl overhead heralded the approaching dusk as the lake at last came into view.

“It will be dark soon,” Alexander said. “Will you be able to find the way back?” A little worry wrinkle had appeared in his brow when she glanced back again.

She squeezed his hand.  “Of course. You’re safe with me, my love.”

A lesser man might have laughed at that sort of reassurance from his wife, but Alexander looked nothing but comforted. “I never doubted it, my angel.”

They made their way along the circular path leading to her father’s dock, where he kept his fishing boat tied during the summer. Impulsively, Eliza tugged her husband down across the creaking planks. She bounded towards the end of the dock and plopped down on the edge, immediately bending her leg to unfasten her shoe.

“What are you doing?” Alexander asked around a breath that could almost have been a laugh. She paused for a moment, looking up at him with wonder. It had been so long since she’d last heard him laugh.

“Sit,” she instructed, patting at the wood beside her. “We can dip our toes in the water. I used to do it all the time when I was little.”

He lowered himself into a seat, but protested, “The water must be freezing.”

“Live a little.” The reply was meant to be flippant, but her voice took on a desperate quality. That spark within him that she’d first fallen in love with had fizzled out to nothing. His hair had gone gray in the past months, his face stamped heavily with grief and heartache. He would never truly forgive himself, she knew, but she wants him to try. Please, she implored him silently, please try to live.

He studied her for a long moment, then contorted to start unfastening his own shoe. Their stockings both followed, the silky fabric carelessly tossed aside on the dirty wooden planks as they dangled their bare feet into water. Eliza shivered as the water lapped over her skin.

“Cold?” Alexander asked, almost teasing.

“A little,” she admitted. A hint of flirtation entered her voice as she inched closer to him. “Keep me warm?”

He gave an exaggerated sigh, his eyes rolling up towards the heavens even as he stretched an arm around her and said, “I suppose.”

The playful dramatics, once so familiar from him, made her laugh with delighted surprise, and she saw his expression grow soft and fond in response. Brushing a stray hair away from her face self-consciously, she asked, “What?”

“I’ve missed your laugh.”

They used to laugh together so easily. Everything had gotten so hard, so dark, and she’d wondered for a long time if she’d ever feel true happiness again. Smiling softly, she said, “I’ve missed it, too.”

Alexander’s thumb stroked over her upper arm. His head tipped forward and his lips brushed over hers. She leaned her head on his shoulder when he pulled away, content. The shadows behind the trees were growing long, the sun nearly set behind the horizon. Despite the impending dark, she had no desire to start back for the house.

A long stretch of companionable silence followed. The cloud cover shifted as the sun disappeared, and the waning moon emerged over them, reflecting in the glassy surface of the lake. Eliza turned her eyes upward to see the first twinkling stars peeking out overhead.

“What a beautiful night,” she said.

“Hm?”

When she looked at her husband, she saw his focus pull away from the water under their feet. “The stars are coming out,” she said, gesturing upwards.

His chin tilted up. “Oh, yes, so they are. How lovely.”

“What were you looking at?”

She felt him shrug. “Just…the ripples.”

“Ripples?” she asked, amused. Her gaze dropped down to where Alexander’s foot was tracing lazy circles. Ripples were whirling out across the water, distorting the reflection of the moon above.

“Some don’t go very far.” His voice was serious, almost melancholy.

She sensed his distraction, something larger weighing on his mind. The memory of the morning’s headline occurred to her, and things seemed to fit into place. “Have you heard any more news about the election?”

He gave a dismissive little grunt.

His legacy and his ability to be of service in the future would both be at risk if his old rival attained the highest office in the land. How her husband liked his metaphors, she thought fondly. Ripples, indeed.

“Well, I hope Mr. Jefferson won’t win, for your sake.”

Alexander’s head whipped towards her. “But he must win.”

Her mouth parted slightly in surprise. “Surely Mr. Burr—”

“I disagree with Jefferson about almost everything. But at least he has principles. That’s more than I can say for Burr.”  

“Alexander,” she sighed. Her standard admonishments were already on her tongue—let it go, focus on your family, what we have here is enough—but she couldn’t quite bring herself to verbalize any of them.

His eyes, just visible in the moonlight, were flashing suddenly with a familiar spark. Beneath the lines set deep in his face, she glimpsed her young, fiery Colonel. She hadn’t seen that spark in so, so long.

“You should let your opinion be known, then,” she said instead. His head tilted slightly to the side, studying her. “Whatever else has happened in the past few years, the people still respect you, and they look to you to show them the way. You should warn them about Mr. Burr.”

The words felt heavy on her tongue, loaded with a significance she didn’t yet understand.

But the fire that blazed back to life behind his eyes made them impossible to regret.

--

The full heat of summer clung to the night air when Eliza next returned to the lake. Alone and dressed all in black, she seemed almost to melt into the darkness, illuminated only by the moon hovering high in the sky above her. She wandered out onto the dock and sat heavily, pulling off her shoes and stockings to dip her feet into the water. As she sat, a cloud shifted overhead, and the sudden light from the moon appeared bright as the fiery sun in the reflection below. Swirling her toes, she watched with satisfaction as ripples flowed ever outwards across the glassy surface.

She would make sure they never stopped.

“Don’t worry, my love,” she whispered. “You’re safe with me.”

[signs-of-the-moon]

Moon Rise: Chapter 22

Another moon had gone by, with tensions growing high. Another gathering just past the day before, and once again Blazestar denied any wrongdoings on his clan's part. But it was obvious that Treeclan was wrong this time. Multiple cats had been caught trying to push back the border and hunting prey much farther in the Forest Patch than they were allowed. Swiftpaw was in disbelief until she saw it happen with her own eyes. Another cloudy day greeted her as she emerged from the apprentice's den earlier than usual. A nightmare had roused her just as the dawn patrols were being organized.

"Gingerstrike, you'll be taking a patrol to the Forest Patch," Chicorynose announced from atop Tall Stone. Her eyes scanned the cats who were left in camp. "Butterflytail, Rabbitpaw and Swiftpaw will go with you." A patrol? Cool! It had been a while since Swiftpaw had gone on dawn patrol. She felt grateful for the opportunity, and it would help rid her mind of those nasty dreams. The four Grassclan cats made their way into the maze of oak trees that had become a common battleground, ears pricked and awareness raised as they reached the end of their territory. As Swiftpaw turned to mark one of the trees, a gleaming grey pelt caught her eye. In the distance, two Treeclan cats made their way to the ground, scaling their claws down the length of a few nearby oaks. Only they were doing so on the wrong side of the border. Alarmed, Swiftpaw's pelt pricked. She made her way to her clanmates, flicking her ears back and flexing her claws in and out twice, giving the sign for intruders.

"How many?" Gingerstrike signed back. Swiftpaw flicked an ear twice. At once the two warriors nodded, leaving Swiftpaw and Rabbitpaw on their own.

"Let's create a diversion," Rabbitpaw suggested. "We can yell at those nasty sap sippers while Butterflytail and Gingerstrike get the jump on them." Swiftpaw nodded, lowering her head. Side by side the apprentices stalked, their hackles rising as they came to stand before the Treeclan warriors.

"Hey! What are you doing on Grassclan territory?" Swiftpaw yowled, wiggling her tail. Robinspots stopped clawing a tree while Greytuft turned to face the two of them. She let out a throaty chuckle, unsheathing her claws.

"Your territory?" She snarled, "The forest belongs to Treeclan. We're simply marking our borders."

"You're far from the border, fleabag, the scent markers start back that way," Rabbitpaw growled, flicking his tail in the proper direction. Robinspots smirked.

"Not anymore."

"That's what you think!" Swiftpaw spat just as Gingerstrike and Butterflytail leapt out of the undergrowth. Each warrior took down another, letting out their battle cries as they sunk their claws into their wood scented pelts. Gingerstrike threw Greytuft to the wayside, joining Butterflytail in a fight against Robinspots. Greytuft let out a cough as the dust cleared around her. She turned to flee the scene, to possibly get help, but was apprehended by the onlooking Grassclan appreciates. Rabbitpaw jumped onto her, holding her still with all of his weight while Swiftpaw slipped to claw at her soft underbelly. Greytuft thrashed, trying to throw the apprentices away from her with little success.

"This will teach you for putting your claws where they don't belong!" Rabbitpaw yowled, sinking his teeth into the back of the grey warrior's neck. Swiftpaw slid out from under her, grasping her tail between her teeth. She pulled on it, making Greytuft shriek.

"You rotten furballs!" She cried. Rabbitpaw released his grip to stand on top of her, pushing on Greytuft until she lay on the ground, defeated.

"Get off of our territory, now," he snarled in her ear, letting her go. Greytuft jumped to her paws, turning her gaze from one apprentice to another. Swiftpaw let out a fearsome hiss while Rabbitpaw swung his claws at her threateningly. Greytuft thrashed her tail, turning to climb up a tree. But Swiftpaw wasn't willing to allow her to take the high ground. She lashed out, chasing the grey warrior away. She ran to another tree, but Swiftpaw denied her from climbing. She continued to do this until Greytuft had made it past the border. As a last act of assertiveness, Swiftpaw turned and marked the nearest tree, a smug smirk on her face. Defeated at last, Greytuft fled back into the depts of Treeclan's land. Soon after, Swiftpaw noticed Robinspots pelting after her, pursued by Gingerstrike.

"And stay out!" He roared, fur bristling like flames as he came to a halt by the scent markers. Rabbitpaw laughed triumphantly, coming to stand beside his mentor. He tilted his head back, caterwauling his victory. Swiftpaw joined him, a connection sparking between them.

"Alright that's enough you two. Let's report back to Whitestar," Butterflytail chuckled, flicking his tail to motion for his clanmates to follow. Rabbitpaw came to walk by his side, the two disappearing into woods. Swiftpaw waited beside Gingerstrike, noticing a long scratch across his flank. She was worried for him, afraid to leave his side.

"Go on ahead, Swiftpaw, I'll catch up with you soon," he promised, glancing around, mainly towards the treetops. Was he worried about more trespassers?

"I'm not leaving," Swiftpaw meowed stubbornly. Gingerstrike sighed through his nose, nudging her with his muzzle gently. He looked desperate to have her leave, but Swiftpaw was being adamant. She wasn't going to leave a clanmate alone so close to the Treeclan border.

"Gingerstrike?" A voice piped from above. Swiftpaw tilted her head back, peering into the trees. In the branches she spotted the white patched pelt of a cat. Another Treeclan warrior?

"You need to go now, Swiftpaw," Gingerstrike insisted, shouldering her away this time.

"Who's up there?" She growled, wiggling her tail. Magpiepaw came climbing down the bark of the tree, her eyes wide with guilt. What was going on? Gingerstrike came to stand before her, bumping his forehead affectionately against hers before coming to stand protectively between the two apprentices.

"Relax, Magpiepaw's a friend," Gingerstrike meowed defensively.

"I know she's a friend," Swiftpaw responded, the fur along her spine rising. "She's my friend. But why is she on Grassclan territory?"

"She's my friend too. We wanted to spend time together." The ruddy ginger tom lowered his ears a little with guilt.

"We were going to meet at the Gathering Clearing, but then I saw a patrol heading into your territory and I followed them to warn Gingerstrike," Magpiepaw explained. "It's my fault that they've started pressing the border in the first place. I ended up over the scent markers by accident the first time, and the patrol I was with decided that I had come up with a brilliant idea..." She let out a sigh, stepping closer to Gingerstrike. "I feel awful for causing such a mess. And for my clanmates following me here to start trouble. " Magpiepaw dipper her head, pressing it against Gingerstrike's shoulder. The ruddy ginger tom turned to lick her between the ears, purring softly. Sympathy churned in Swiftpaw's belly as she watched them. Perhaps originally Magpiepaw had come to start trouble, but now all she wanted to do was be with Gingerstrike. Despite the impending war, the two of them had managed to form a bond.

"I'll keep your secret safe," Swiftpaw promised begrudgingly, holding back a sigh. "So long as next time, you don't come back to this side of the forest, Magpiepaw." Surprised, the pair let out soft trills of appreciation, standing beside each other with tails raised. The two said their farewells before Gingerstrike turned to follow Swiftpaw home. As they departed, Magpiepaw disappeared back into the trees, a goodbye echoing on the wind. Seeing the two enemy cats come together gave Swiftpaw hope. Hope that things would be alright, that things would finally settle down. That Treeclan and Grassclan could come to find peace settle between them once more.

That was half a moon ago now, and tensions had all but died down. Now, things were becoming far more violent. Swiftpaw sat by the mouth of the medicine den, helping Mistypaw sort some of her herbs while the older medicine cats had left to aid a patrol in a raid.

"Is this tansy?" She asked, picking up a small yellow blossom with a claw. Mistypaw shook her head.

"No that's tormentil, we'll be using that on deep wounds soon, I'm sure."

"The warriors are returning!" Cheered Cricketsong as today's battle patrol made their way into the clearing. Mistypaw stood at attention, darting over to the injured party. She cooed at the first warrior to break through the bramble tunnel, leading them over to her den. More cats came streaming in after with varying degrees of battle wounds. The worst of them all was Butterflytail who had to be dragged in by both Snowfrost and Goldensong. He withered in pain as they set him down in the middle of camp. His body wriggled against the earth, his jaws parted in an inaudible cry of agony. Swiftpaw cautiously approched him, a pit forming in her stomach. She had never seen a cat act like this before. Butterflytail stretched his forepaws outward, kneading at the air with unsheathed claws. He gurgled as he struggled for breath, struggled to beg for help. Whitestar came to witness the scene, staring with mouth half agape in shock. Cricketsong and Chicorynose came to flank either side of her, burying their muzzles into her creamy fur comfortingly. Tigerfang came around to obstruct the leader's view while the two she-cats led her away.

"What happened?!" Mistypaw gasped, looking down at the tom in horror as she approched. Swiftpaw wanted to jump in front of her and shield her from the sight, but resisted. She knew that she needed to see this. It was her job to.

"He was thrown into a tree head first. His brain must be badly damaged," Snowfrost responded, sounding rather collected.

"Wh..what can we do?" Mistypaw asked in a shaky voice, eyes wide with fear.

Snowfrost shook her head. "We can do nothing. There is no cure for severe head trauma like this. He will either break from his trance on his own, or die." That didn't seem very logical. Why would banging your head cause such a terrible fit? Concerned, Swiftpaw went to speak with Dewstone. The white and silver she-cat was seated near the warrior's den, watching the scene of pain in front of her attentively.

"Dewstone," Swiftpaw mewed, breaking the Code Keeper from her thoughts. "Have you seen Butterflytail?"

"It's hard to keep an eye on everyone from this distance. Why, what's going on?"

"He's spasming. Snowfrost says it's because he hit a tree. Is that right? Can that really happen...?" Dewstone curled her tail as she thought briefly, slowly nodding her head.

"It really depends on how hard Butterflytail hit his head, but yes. It's rare, but it can happen." Oh, Swiftpaw felt sick. Another warrior was on the verge of dying. Dying because of the actions of a Treeclan warrior. All the hope that had once stirred inside of her leaked out like water flowing through the cracks of a broken boulder. What would Whitestar do now?

"All cats gather beneath Tall Stone!" Whitestar yowled untraditionally. Those of the clan that were not being seen by the medicine cats edged their way toward the towering ancient boulder. Swiftpaw examined those in attendance, noticing the tension built up in everyone's pelts. Frostpaw sat with a paw raised, rubbing it against a cut on her cheek while Quailpaw sat at her side, licking the blood from a wound on the back of her neck. Ambereye laid beneath her younger brother Gingerstrike who cleaned the top of her head, a sad chuckle escaping him. Cricketsong sat at Chicorynose's side by Tall Stone's base, a distressed mewl rising from her throat as she furiously cleaned a nasty wound over the deputy's eye. Mistypaw twisted around those who had yet to be seen, patching their scratches and bite wounds with cobwebs and marigold. It was shocking. Swiftpaw had never seen the clan in such pain and distress. Whitestar waited for silence to fall over her cats before she finally spoke up. "Who started the battle with Treeclan?" She asked, her usually soft, soothing voice now laced with ice. Cats exchanged glances with one another, a discussion rising from beneath. Was Whitestar accusing her own clan of starting today's battle? "Well?"

"W...we did.." Piped Snailear, guilt written on his face. A few shocked gasps escaped the cats around him, including one from Swiftpaw. Slugsnout and Beetlepatch hissed at the tom-their own littermate-to be quiet. But it was clear that the ginger and white tom was eager to confess, to possibly ease the punishment he may face if Whitestar were to find out from someone else instead. "Slugsnout, Beetlepatch, and I started the scuffle. We wanted to give Treeclan a taste of their own medicine....we ambushed their sunhigh patrol, then sent Beetlepatch back home to fetch help. We wanted to make it look like they had attacked us first, and lured them across the border before the battle patrol arrived."

"Why would you do this?" Dewstone asked, standing up to make her way to the front of the crowd.

"Like I said, we wanted them to have a taste of their own medicine. We're so sick of being attacked. So, we decided that this time we would pounce first." Whitestar heaved a sigh, dipping her head. She seemed to be suppressing a growl that was threatening to erupt from her throat. Only when she had regained her composure did the siamese she-cat speak.

"I am very disappointed in you three. Senior warriors... I thought better of you. When I return from apologizing to Blazestar, I will punish you accordingly. For now, get all the rest you can. You'll need it." The three toms shrank back, bowing respectfully.

"Apologize?" Tornface caterwauled unexpectedly. "You're going to apologize to that mange-pelted leader after all his clan has done to us?" Yowls from the rest of Grassclan joined the old tom in his outcry.

"It's the right thing to do. Even if Blazestar will not do the same, I must do what I can to prevent a war."

"But Treeclan killed Waspwing!" Beetlepatch countered.

"We don't know tha-" Whitestar tried to defend her choice, being cut off by Tigerfang.

"And now Butterflytail is dying because of them." The tabby tom held his mate's gaze for a few heartbeats, engaging in a silent battle with her. Whitestar averted her eyes, addressing the clan once more.

"Butterflytail is dying because of the actions members of our clan took first. We cannot rightfully blame Treeclan for anything except trespassing. I will go apologize to Blazestar, even if he does not deserve to hear it. I fear that if I don't, he will surely declare war." The siamese she-cat leapt down from Tall Stone, swiftly concluding the meeting. She was clearly in no mood to indulge in any further argument on the subject as she stalked towards the camp barrier. "Tigerfang, Swiftpaw, and Chicorynose to me. You three will accompany me to Treeclan's camp. Dewstone, you will be in charge until we return."

***

Swiftpaw felt uneasy as they walked past the scent markers, further into the forest than she ever would have liked. A horrible stench caught in her nose as the trees began to thin slightly. The smell was oddly familiar and yet difficult to place. As the path cleared a wide black river stretched out before them, seeming to continue on in either direction forever. Cautiously, Swiftpaw reached out a paw to swipe at the black liquid within. To her amazement the surface was actually solid stone. As she went to take a brave step out on the stony path, the ground began to shake. Whitestar grabbed Swiftpaw's scruff and threw her back just as a creature raced by, roaring and kicking out fumes. A monster! Swiftpaw had only seen a pawful of them back when she was a kittypet. She'd almost forgotten what they'd looked like, and how dangerous they could be. Though she had never seen them travel on a path quite like this. Back in her neighborhood, the paths had been made of earth, not solid stone.

"This is the Thunder Path, Swiftpaw," Tigerfang explained, seeing the bewilderment on her face. "When the next monster passes we'll hurry to the other side." The tabby tom flicked his amber gaze onto the black stone path ahead. Another monster sped past, leaving behind a cloud of smog. "Ready? Go!" The four cats pelted across the Thunder Path as fast as their long limbs could carry them. They skidded to a halt as their paws touched the soft grass on the opposite bank. For a few heartbeats they sat panting, catching their breaths before continuing onward. But they did not make it far before a patrol jumped down on them. Four Treeclan warriors stood before them, fur bristling as they stared the intruders down.

"Whitestar?" A blue eyed ginger she-cat mewed, intrigued. "What do you think you're doing on Treeclan territory?"

"After a battle no less," spat a  blue-grey tom. Whitestar seemed unaffected by the harshness in the tom's tone, swishing her tail.

"I have come to speak with Blazestar. Please, will you escort us to your camp?" The warriors exchanged unpleasant glances before reluctantly nodding, herding the Grassclan patrol in the direction of Treeclan's camp. As they scaled down a small elm tree into a leaf littered clearing, a whole new cluster of trees surrounded them, giving shelter to all the cats who lives there. Swiftpaw saw some warriors disappear into a hole high up in an oak halfway across the camp. Kits and queens scurried in and out from beneath the roots of a maple tree, playing and laughing without a care in the world. Injured cats limped from beneath the sagging branches of a weeping willow, a calico she-cat looking on glumly. Sitting near a thick stump were Blazestar and another warrior Swiftpaw quickly recognized. Wolfheart. Whitestar led her patrol over,  drawing the ginger and white tom's attention onto them. Blazestar's fur bristled as he parted her jaws to speak.

"What do you think you're doing here?" He growled lowly. Wolfheart stood at his side, baring his fangs at Tigerfang and Chicorynose. Swiftpaw looked at the large tom from her mentor's side with sadness. Wolfheart had been so nice before, why was he acting so hostile now?

"I'd like a word with you in your den, if that's alright," Whitestar replied, her voice soft. For a heartbeat Blazestar remained silent before jerking his head in the direction of his den. He slipped under the thick stump he had been sitting by, Whitestar following right behind. Before disappearing she instructed her cats to stay put. Tigerfang and Chicorynose busied themselves by whispering to one another while Swiftpaw trained her ears on the conversation in the leader's den. She could hear Blazestar yowling, asking what the intrusion was all about. Whitestar made sure to keep her voice calm and steady as she explained herself, and explained the actions of the cats who had caused today's battle. As she did so Blazestar seemed to settle down, his voice falling soft and harder to hear. For a long while the two spoke in hushed tones. Swiftpaw struggled to catch what they were saying, unknowingly moving herself closer to the tree stump.

"Get away from the Great Stump," Wolfheart hissed lowly, causing Swiftpaw to jolt. She scrambled backwards, back to her mentor's side.

"S..sorry..." She meeped, lowing her ears. Chicorynose shook her head, rasping her tongue against her apprentice's cheek with an amused purr.

"Nosy, 'Paw," she teased. Swiftpaw's pelt felt hot with embarrassment. She glanced at the fawn she-cat who simply kept grooming her. Tigerfang sat at her side, turning his attention to the Great Stump. A heartbeat later, the leaders emerged. Neither seemed to show any tension as they came to settle just outside the den.

"Thank you for your visit, Whitestar. I trust that you will send your cats here to be punished accordingly. In return I will have Cardinaltail find who is responsible for the injury of your warrior. And I promise to keep my cats off your land," Blazestar meowed. It sounded as if the two leaders had discussed this already, but needed more cats to bare witness to the truce. Chicorynose, Tigerfang, Swiftpaw, and Wolfheart watched as the leaders touched noses.

"You have the thanks of my clan, Blazestar. Thank you for hearing me out. May the winds be on your side."

Blazestar dipped his head. "And may Starclan light your path." Whitestar mimicked his motion before turning and calling her cats to her side with a quick flick of her tail. Chicorynose and Tigerfang quickly ducked their heads in the presence of Blazestar before following, Swiftpaw doing the same. She galloped to catch up to her clanmates as they scaled the short elm and out of Treeclan's camp.

[andrewmoocow]

Gravity Soul chapter 6: In Search of Pacifica, Another Enemy Returns? (originally posted on March 20, 2018)

AN: Welcome back from hiatus boys, girls and every other gender/sexuality! From here on out, Gravity Soul is going to get even insaner and you’re all coming along with me for the ride. Welcome one and all to the Quest for the Northwest arc, and now your new cipher brought to us by Mr. A1Z26. 1 12-9-20-20-12-5 7-9-18-12 2-25 20-8-5 14-1-13-5 15-6 14-15-18-20-8-23-5-19-20 23-1-19 2-15-18-14 20-15 2-5 20-8-5 22-5-18-25 2-5-19-20 14-15-23 19-8-5'19 11-14-15-3-11-5-4 15-21-20 3-15-12-4 20-15 19-1-22-5 8-5-18, 20-8-5-25 13-21-19-20 2-5 2-15-12-4

Mere hours later, the beastly Madness of Sloth formerly known as Preston Northwest charged through the woods of Gravity Falls with his wife Priscilla and their currently unconscious daughter Pacifica clutched in his large hands, startling many a woodland creature and supernatural oddity. “Please Preston, if you’re still in there, just let us go!” his wife cried trying to flee, but her words fell on deaf ears before the monster finally arrived at their former mansion, which was now property of Fiddleford McGucket, but something seemed off. It was now infested with monsters roaming its courtyard, the windows darker than the night sky and the roof having a large hole in it, allowing the light of the moon to shine upon the foyer. “Master Kishin Cipher, I have returned!” the Madness boomed entering the house. “Master, where are you?” he wondered looking around for his lord. “I believe he has other matters to attend to sir.” a diminuative elderly man dressed in all black with a pointy nose explained appearing before Preston. “I am Mosquito, at your service.” he cordially introduced himself. “I suppose you must be another one of his minions, correct?” “Of course we are, we’re all working for the same guy right!” another man called stepping into view. This one in particular had very pale skin, metal piercings, a fur-collared jacket and brown gloves that extended past his elbows. “Who’s the ruffian with you?” Northwest asked setting his captives down. “This ‘ruffian’ is my partner Giriko. We made a deal with Bill to resurrect a certain someone in exchange for our services.” Mosquito stated. Giriko got quite mad over the former philanthropist calling him a ruffian and got his face incredibly close to the other’s. “Who are you calling a ruffian?! You’re the ruffian here for being a terrible parent from what I’ve heard!” “SILENCE!” another voice roared before its owner crashed down into the floor through the hole, none other than Kishin Cipher. “Kishin Cipher, I have been expecting you my lord!” Mosquito distracted himself from the duo’s argument by kissing up to the fusion of Bill and Asura. “My most glorious, almighty, unholy-” Kishin Cipher interrupted him by literally zipping his mouth closed. “Skip the formalities Pointy and hand me the journal!” Although Mosquito’s speaking was muffled through the zipper, he complied giving his boss the second journal written by Stanford Pines. “Oh yes, finally someone gave me one of the journals for once!” the fusion cried in euphoria. “Now all I need are the other two and the ritual to get my power back will be complete!” Skimming through the book, he glanced at Giriko and the Madness of Sloth still fighting before shocking them with a wave of his finger, ending their tussle. “Quit it both of you!” “Okay then you big lug, no need to create another spark over this.” Giriko chuckled at his own terrible pun before getting serious again. “So what do we do with those two over there?” he wondered turning to the other Northwests. “Whatever you do milord, please have mercy on them.” Preston offered thinking for his family. “Oh isn’t that sweet? This man still cares for his family even after he’s been turned into a hideous creature! Whatever shall I do to please him?” Kishin Cipher mock-cried mulling over what to do before he finally came to a decision. “Oh I know! Golems, take the woman to the dungeon where she shall remain!” “But we made an agreement!” Preston roared as his wife was tossed into his family’s former panic room by a pair of large stone creatures. “Well I’m not one for keeping promises bub!” the Dream Kishin exclaimed before gesturing towards the still comatose Pacifica. “And place the girl in a special cage, we’ll need her for later.” The Golems did as they were told picking up the girl and sticking her in a gilded cage before it was raised to the ceiling. “What do you plan on doing with her?” Sloth wondered fearfully backing away. “You’ll see Mustachio. Now go outside and guard the front door!” The Madness of Sloth reluctantly complied before walking outside and taking his position. Cipher went back to eagerly scrolling through the journal before Giriko finally spoke up. “So what’s this ritual you were talking about?” the Deadly Demon Weapon wondered. “That is a very good question buzzface!” Kishin Cipher answered faux-affectionately pinching his cheek, much to his displeasure. “In order for me to regain my maximum power, I need the blood sacrifice of a human, a Witch and a Demon Weapon. I’ve already got one of them down, but all I need are the other two.” He produced an image of the Mystery Meisters before Giriko & Mosquito. “Kill every last one of them, but bring the old man and the Demon Scythe to me. Understand?” he commanded. “Yes master.” the two accepted before going on their way. “But master, what would happen if someone else got involved?” Mosquito inquired before Cipher grabbed him by the shirt collar. “What do you mean by someone else?! If you’re talking about him, then our plans will be ruined if he finds out! Now go already!” He finally dropped the Bloodsucker to the ground and retreated back into the shadows, presumably to recharge his energy as the two walked out of the mansion. “So explain to me again why we’re working with him if he looks like he wants us dead?” Giriko wondered. “Don’t you remember my boy, we originally made a deal with him to resurrect Lady Arachne in exchange for our services!” Mosquito exclaimed irritated at his partner’s forgetfulness before consoling himself and focusing on the task at hand. “But your incompetence doesn’t matter now, let us continue on our way.” The pair finally disembarked on their mission, confident that they will succeed but didn’t know what they were in for.

Meanwhile, deep in the woodlands of Gravity Falls, Dipper and Maka began making plans for an attack on Kishin Cipher with the rest of the party watching. “Okay everyone, here’s the plan.” Dipper began mapping out strategies. “It’s a long way to the mansion so it’s best that we all split up into groups to find a decent pathway to our destination.” He then began listing off the teams. “Mabel, Waddles, Maka, Soul, Crona & I will form the first team. Stan, you, Ford, Kid, Liz & Patty and Wendy form the second. Soos, Melody, McGucket, Stein, Spirit & Blair are Team #3. Finally Black Star, Tsubaki, Gideon and Ghost-Eyes will make up the fourth team. Any questions?” “I got one,” Mabel raised her hand. “how do we communicate with one another when our teams are far away from each other?” she asked. “That’s where these come in.” Maka stated pulling out a bag of flashlights and handing them out to each group. “Each team gets one flashlight they’ll have to share. For every five meters, one of you will have to flash it twice if it’s safe. If there’s trouble, flash it four times. As for other signals, all members within each team will give each other hand signals.” She formed her hand to make an OK symbol. “Use this whenever you’re in the clear.” Then she lowered three of her fingers down while the pinky & thumb pointed outward. “And this is for perilous situations. Are we clear on that?” The others nodded in agreement before Spirit raised his hand. “I think I got a good hand signal!” he exclaimed before he demonstrated said signal by clapping his hands, making a peace sign, then an OK sign and finally placing his left hand over his brow. “I think he’s saying "Your underwear is showin’”.“ Stan translated the signals. "Yeah boy!” Spirit cried fistbumping the great uncle while Maka watched in embarrassment. “Good grief.” “Before we proceed, I think we need to contact my father about the current situation.” Death the Kid suggested before extending his hand, causing a skull-shaped magic circle on the ground to appear and an image of Lord Death to pop out of it. “Hey there, hi there, ho there everybody! How are you all doing children?” the Shinigami cheerfully greeted. “We’re doing fine Lord Death. We contacted you because we’re about to go on an important mission.” Maka explained. “Who the devil is Mr. Tall Dark & Mysterious over here?” Stan wondered. “And what’s with that mask of his?” “Mr. Pines, I’d like you to meet my father Death.” Kid introduced the great uncle to his father. “Ah, so you must be one of my son’s new friends.” Death politely stated. “So wait, your father is literally the Grim Reaper?!” Stan exclaimed gaping at the Death God. “To be honest, I don’t really see the family resemblance.” “You must be Lord Death. The name’s Pines, Stanford Pines.” Ford greeted stepping forward. “They’re our great uncles and super cool too!” Mabel exclaimed. “Oh look, little Dipper and Mabel are here as well! What’s up with this mission I’ve heard about?” said Death. “Well here’s a question for you sir.” Dipper stated crossing his arms. “Have you ever heard of Bill Cipher?” Lord Death gasped at the boy’s question, as if he knew the dream demon from days long passed. After regaining his composure and answering. “Why yes, yes I have.” he stated. “He and I go way back. Hundreds of years ago, he plotted to unleash his weirdness upon the world but me and my eight guardians refused to have any of that. We found a way to break into his hideout in the Nightmare Realm and prevent his invasion, but I feared he would come back someday ready for revenge.” “Well that’s why we contacted you Mr. Death, he’s back and fused with this guy named Asura!” Wendy exclaimed which again sent Death into a tizzy. “Wait, Asura’s back?! How, and why?” he exclaimed. “He fused with Bill for one simple purpose: revenge.” Stein said turning his screw. “And now he’s kidnapped a young girl after brainwashing her father into becoming one of his minions.” “Oh my, that is quite perilous! I’ll promise to watch over you and make contact when all is said and done!” Death proclaimed doing a military salute as the hologram gave out. “Lord Death, out!” When the message finally ended, Dipper turned to the other teams. “Okay everyone, we all know what to do!” he announced raising his flashlight skyward. “For Pacifica!” “For Pacifica!” the others shouted before finally dispersing across the forest. All except for Wendy who stopped her younger friend and snatched the trapper cap from his head, replacing it with the pine tree hat she took to remember him by last summer. “Wanted to do it when you first came back, but I guess I lost track of time.” she said before running to catch up with the elder Pines, Kid and the Thompsons. And so, the great quest for Pacifica Northwest that would last them through the night finally began. Meanwhile with Lord Death, he had just ended the call before turning to gaze around his special room, pondering about their current situation. “So Asura’s back, just as I feared.” he reiterated in a hushed fearful tone unlike his usual wise eccentric personality. “I wonder if it’s finally time I tell Kid.” “Is something wrong sir?” a blue-skinned zombie entered the room without Death knowing. “Oh it’s nothing Sid, I’m just concerned for my son.” Death answered sheepishly. “Oh, you mean Kid? I’m sure he’s doing fine in Gravity Falls.” Sid replied. “No Sid, not just him.” the Shinigami corrected him. “The other one as well.”

Owls hooted loudly as Dipper’s team, consisting of himself, Mabel, Maka, Soul, Crona and Waddles wandered through the forest in search of a good pathway to the former Northwest mansion. “Are you sure we should be out when it’s this dark? I don’t know how to deal with this.” Crona moaned hiding behind Maka. “It’s gonna be okay Crona, you got us sticking by you all the way.” Mabel comforted him before Ragnarok popped out of the Demon Swordsman’s back. “Yeah, all that mushy power of friendship crap or something!” the Black Blood blade shouted giving his Meister a noogie. “Hey, quit it Ragnarok!” Just then, Waddles started oinking in fear and dashing toward Soul. “What’s up little guy, you look like you’ve seen a ghost!” the Demon Scythe tried to soothe him before the group spotted a snake slithering before them. “What are you all scared about, it’s just a snake.” Dipper said. “That’s not just any snake Dipper,” Maka exclaimed. “look at its scales!” The Pines brother nervously stepped forward to examine the reptile and much to his surprise, there were various arrows adorning its body. “That is definitely nothing like any snake I’ve seen!” he shouted as it snapped its jaws at him. “Correct child. In fact, I’m not just a snake at all.” the snake suddenly spoke to him in a female voice terrifying the Meisters in the twins’ group. “No, that’s impossible!” Maka cried preparing for a fight as Soul’s scythe form flew into her hands. “Oh it most definitely is Maka-chan.” The snake began morphing into a young woman of fairly average build with black dotted tattoos winding down both of her arms. She had yellow eyes with matching hair and was clad in a sleeveless black cloak but was barefoot, revealing black nail polish. To the Pines twins & Waddles she was a frightening sight, but to Maka, Soul and Crona, she was none other than Medusa Gorgon. “Is that supposed to be Medusa?” Mabel wondered clinging to Maka’s overcoat as the young Meister prepared for a rematch with the snake witch. “Yes, but I just can’t believe she’s still alive!” Maka replied readying her scythe. “Well then, why isn’t she turning us to stone?” The clearing suddenly became deathly quiet as Medusa tried to comprehend the little girl’s question. “What…did you just say?” she asked increduously. “I mean, isn’t Medusa supposed to be like some kind of crazy snake-haired lady who can turn anyone looking at her into stone?” “Wow Mabel, I honestly didn’t know you were that into Greek mythology.” Dipper gasped in astonishment. “Well to be honest Dipper, I mostly got it all from that movie from '97 we watched a lot when we were little.” Mabel said. “We had to replace the VCR three times because I had a crush on Herc-” “SILENCE!” Medusa shouted interrupting their random conversation with an arrow that gashed Mabel’s cheek and blew her back. “I’ve had enough of your meandering chatter little ones, now I must assassinate you for my new master Kishin Cipher!” she declared summoning more arrows from her person. “Oh my gosh, are you okay Mabel!” Dipper howled worrying for his sister. “I’m fine bro-bro, just go get help.” his sister groaned reeling from her injury. The boy immediately reached for his flashlight to contact the others before it was suddenly destroyed by one of the witch’s arrows. “You won’t be needing them now little Pine Tree.” “Oh my gosh, someone help us!” the boy began screaming for help as Maka and Crona engaged Medusa in combat.

“So if your dad’s Lord Death, then where’s Lady Death?” Stan asked as his group, also made up of Ford, Wendy, Kid, Liz and Patty, ventured through their neck of the woods. “To be frank, I never knew my mother or if I even had one at all.” Kid said. “Small world, my mom’s not around either.” Wendy added wrapping her arm around the young Shinigami’s shoulder. “She died when I was like a kid and it still really affects my family even to this day.” “Ditto, we all know what happened with me and Patty’s folks.” Liz affirmed before an arrow whizzed past them and landing on a nearby tree. “What was that?!” Patty cried. Racing over to where the arrow had landed on the tree, it suddenly vanished into thin air. “Just where did that come from?” Ford wondered. “I think it came from over there everyone, we should contact the others!” Stan cried picking up his group’s flashlight and flashing it four times, signaling the others to their side. “We got your message Stanley, what’s up?” Stein wondered. “We were just talking about moms and then an arrow just flew by our faces!” “An arrow? Oh geez, not her!” Black Star cried. “Her who boy?” Gideon wondered. “You’ll know when we show you Gideon, now follow us!” Stan exclaimed leading everyone else on the arrow’s path.

“I’m shocked you’re still siding with Lord Death’s cronies my child.” Medusa stated after defeating Maka and Soul while the Pines twins hid in fear of the witch. “And where is Ragnarok? I don’t suppose you made him into part of those tacky clothes, haven’t you?” Crona was enraged by his mother commenting on his current outfit and let out a mighty battle cry as he dashed towards her with Ragnarok in hand. “SCREECH RESONANCE!” “Seriously, defeated again?! I thought we were stronger than this!” Soul shouted rubbing his head in pain. “It’s not that we’re getting weaker, I think Medusa’s gotten stronger since we last saw her.” Maka guessed watching the mother and son clash. “You think it has something to do with Bill?” her partner asked. “Possibly, that would also explain the change in wardrobe.” “Kids, we’re coming!” Stan cried as he and the other groups raced towards them. “Grunkle Stan!” the twins cried rushing to their great uncle who simply glared at Medusa. “So you’re the hussy that was a terrible mom to Crona, aren’t you?!” he snarled brandishing a pair of brass knuckles. “And I suppose you must be Pine Tree and Shooting Star’s great uncle, right Mackerel?” the witch said putting on an evil grin that distorted her entire face. “How are you even alive Medusa?! You were supposed to have been killed by Maka’s Genie Hunter!” Tsubaki cried changing into Black Star’s chain scythe. “Why it’s simple you all. I can never truly die, plus we all know about the deal I made with Bill. In exchange for helping to morph Crona into a killing machine, he offered to make me into one of his loyal minions!” Medusa summoned a snake-like creature made out of her own tattoos to her side. “You may call me the Madness of Wrath!” “Oh I’ll show you some madness and wrath!” Stan hollered charging towards the witch and hitting her with a left hook. “Come on, who’s with me?!” Just then, Ford, Soos, Melody, Stein and Black Star joined him in taking on Medusa. “So it has to be that way?” Medusa crossed her arms as a black mass swarmed around her. “Nake snake cobra cobbra. VECTOR ARROW TIMES THREE!” She unleashed a barrage of arrows towards her opponents but unfortunately for her, they all swiftly dodged them. “Have some of this!” Soos socked her in the eye with his hammer and Melody slapped her with her shock gauntlets. Meanwhile, Black Star tied her up with his chain scythe leading Stein to send an electric shock just by gripping the sides of her head. “That children, is called Soul Menace. Where you can literally weaponize your Wavelength to create a concussive shock.” “Brag all you want, but you forgot one thing.” Medusa smirked bringing forth her snake creature. “Light Serpent, now!” The monster grew to a gargantuan size and snatched up the entire party in its jaws, flying high into the sky above the forest while the others cried for help. The only member that wasn’t captured was Crona who trembled in fear as he watched his friends on the verge of being dropped to their doom. He became so furious at his mother that he screamed at the top of his lungs and sprouted wings of Black Blood from his back and chased the Light Serpent down. “Hey is it me or are we being made to look like idiotic weaklings?!” Black Star shouted trying to break out of the serpent’s jaws. “Especially me, the man who’s gonna transcend God someday!” Then Dipper proposed a hypothesis. “I think it’s like what Maka & Soul said, it’s possibly because she’s become way too powerful for us!” he said. “Very good observation Dipper, but can we plan on how to escape without dying here!” Gideon exclaimed. “Hang on everyone, we’re coming!” Suddenly, the group all spotted Crona flying after the Light Serpent, keyword being flying as he now had wings. “Wait, Crona can fly now?!” Melody exclaimed. “I recognize those wings from anywhere.” Kid declared. “He gained this ability after devouring every soul aboard the ghost ship Nidhogg with the Black Blood.” he explained. “Great, that’s cool and all but how is he gonna save us with that?!” Wendy wondered. “Like that.” “BLOODY SLICER!” Crona screamed cutting his wrist, allowing blood to fly out & form into a curved projectile. This attack whizzed toward the Light Serpent and sliced its head off, causing it to vanish and its prisoners falling to the ground. Just then, Crona swooped in and picked up all his friends within the wings and gently set them down on the ground. “I can’t believe it Crona, you saved our lives!” Dipper cried gasping for breath. “Yeah, you totally did it!” Mabel added before everyone started singing Crona’s praises. The Demon Swordsman shed a small tear at how much love they all showed him before Medusa finally cornered them. “So you destroyed my Light Serpent? Very good job on that one.” “You leave her alone you crazy snake lady!” Soos firmly stated while he and Melody rushed to the child’s defense. “No Soos, let me handle this one.” Crona declared making the two move out of his way. Stepping forward to face Medusa, the boy put on a determined scowl on his face as he summoned Ragnarok. “You dare challenge me Crona? And I thought I trained my son to obey me!” the snake witch scoffed. “No, I am not your son anymore and I refuse to be called that! A mother is supposed to love and cherish their children, not abuse them into becoming weapons! From this day forth, my name is no longer Gorgon. Instead, call me Crona Ramirez!” Soos put on a small smile as he and the others watched Crona stand tall against his former mother who just groaned and simply said “Vector Plate.” Just then, large arrows pointing in different directions away from Medusa sent all four teams flying away from one another, with Crona being shunted back to Dipper, Mabel, Waddles, Maka and Soul. “Stan, Ford!” the twins cried out for their great uncles. “KIDS!” “Where’s she sending us to?!” Wendy cried as her group tumbled through the forest. “I do not know, but I sure hope it doesn’t get any worse!” Kid exclaimed before they started screaming again, fearfully awaiting what would happen to them.

Meanwhile deep in the forest rested a small cave in which its entrance masked by the surrounding flora. There was a large body of water winding all the way from that entrance to a pedestal, which rested a sword that was illuminated by the moonlight coming from a large hole in the cave’s ceiling. The sword was the cave’s only inhabitant. Along with a few fairies who’s faces were contorted in pure disgust.

That’s all folks! Hope you’re all ready for the next chapter when the Stans, Wendy, Kid and the Thompsons happen upon a certain Holy Sword. Hilarity ensues. Until then… FOOLS!

[kalosstarters]

One-shot: Silence

Mairin likes talking, sometimes too much for Alain’s liking, so he has to use his imagination to make her quiet down.

This is something I wrote months ago (in October or something like that), planning on making this a part of a series of fics about Mairin’s Kalos journey, but I’m not 100% sure if I’m going to finish that one, so I decided to edit this ficlet and post it as a one-shot. Awful fluff, be warned. Oh and Mairin is 17 and Alain 22.

Mairin talked a lot. Sometimes Alain was happy about it, sometimes he wasn’t. Most of the time he was relieved when he didn’t have to come up with new topics to talk about because she already took care of that, but as someone who was used to traveling on their own and who liked their peaceful, quiet moments too, the constant chatter got onto his nerves sometimes. For example, after she won her Fairy badge, she went through pretty much every moment of the battle with Alain even though he had been there to see it.

“I was just about to call Chespie back when…” she recalled when he stopped her rather rudely.

“Mairin, I was there. I saw it. Chespie’s Overgrow was activated and he beat the Sylveon with a Wood Hammer.”

“Oh. Right. Sorry, I guess I get a bit carried away when it comes to my gym battles…” she looked a little embarrassed when she realized how childish her excitement must seem.

“It’s OK, but in the future, you don’t have to explain every moment to me. Though, if you ask me, you took quite a risk using Chespie when you know it’s weak against fairy type Pokemon.”

“Maybe true, but you know I don’t believe in type advantages. Chespie and I have experienced so much together. Remember the time…”

She gave him a long list of moments when she and Chespie had managed to win a battle despite Chespie’s weaknesses, and he sighed. Did this girl ever get tired of talking? Alain was listening to her with just one of his ears, and took in the view in front of them. There was a movie theater right in front of them, and it occurred to him that if he took her there, she would have to be quiet for a few hours. Mairin didn’t know about Alain’s secret motive, so when he asked if she’d want to go there, she was just excited and of course wanted to go, because it was not every day they got a chance like this on their journey.

Unfortunately for Alain, the theater only showed one movie that evening, and it was a romantic, but tragic story about a Chespin who had fallen in love with a Charizard even though he knew their relationship could never work because they were like a day and a night. Weird coincidence, Alain thought, his and Mairin’s starters in his mind. ‘Though in this case it was the Charizard’s owner who…’ he stopped himself from finishing that sentence in his head.

It seemed Mairin didn’t have similar thoughts about the movie; she just enjoyed it, and cried a bit when the Chespin had to say goodbye to the Pokemon he loved. “What?” she looked at Alain who was slightly amused by her reaction. “Didn’t that make you at least a little bit emotional?”

“Not really. It is just a movie.” he answered coolly.

When they got out of the movie theater, it had become dark, and the moon and the stars were shining brightly on the night sky. Mairin was still in a romantic mood after seeing the movie and kept talking about her favorite parts (one of them had been when the Chespin had saved his loved one from a certain death when she was just a little Charmander). Alain smiled a bit at her rambling, but then Mairin suddenly confirmed that he hadn’t been the only one to notice the similarities between their starter pokemon and the main characters of the movie.

“Isn’t it funny how those main characters were a Chespin and a Charizard, just like our starters? And that Chespin saved the Charmander from the Rayquaza just like you saved me back in Hoenn…”

“Huh? I wasn’t really thinking about it too much,” he lied to her.

She then suggested they stop to watch the stars on a giant rock* and Alain accepted because having done this often before, he knew this might be his chance to get her to stop talking about the movie for a moment. Well, this time it turned out he was wrong. When they sat down, she continued commenting on it: “It was sad the Chespin never got the kiss he wanted…” Alain got a feeling she was going somewhere with this, but he didn’t say anything. Soon Mairin broke the silence: “You know… I haven’t ever been kissed either. I wonder what it feels like.”

Alain turned to look at her and from her serious face he realized she meant it. And the Rockruff like eyes she made made him realize that she actually wanted him to kiss her. Not even once before this had it occurred to him that she might actually be interested in him, because she had always treated him like a sister would treat her brother (well, minus the affectionate hugs, touches, cheek kisses, cutesy things she gave him on his birthday and Valentine’s day, and the fact that they usually shared their tent or bed at the Pokemon center and more often than not fell asleep cuddling, because that made them both feel better and lessened the likelihood for nightmares). His own feelings had started to become clearer and clearer, and in that moment, he couldn’t just push back the realization that the spark had been there ever since this girl had returned from Hoenn and now… It was already a flame. Not even a particularly small flame. She might have her annoying habits, she might be several years younger than him, and a bit naive sometimes, but she had always been there for him even when he had his difficult days, and she always seemed to know what made him feel better. Well, sometimes all it needed was her presence and the gentle smile on her face, Alain admitted. 

He took a deep breath, staring at her lips and contemplating whether he should do this or not, but finally decided to act on it. She seemed to realize what he was about to do and her eyes widened and she let out a small gasp, but didn’t make a move. 

Alain’s heart seemed to beat faster than it had beaten in a long while. Nervously, he put his left hand on Mairin’s cheek, touching the corner of her lip lightly with his thumb, as if asking for her approval, and when she nodded, he leaned in. When their lips touched softly, Mairin froze for a moment, and Alain was worried that he had freaked her out. He almost pulled back, but then the girl responded to the kiss, making it more passionate. She also slid her hand in his hair, and moved her body closer, showing him she didn’t want him to stop.

The kiss that Alain had expected to be a quick peck lasted at least a minute, but finally they both pulled away to breathe, faces red and lips still tingling from where they had touched. It took a while for both of them to calm down and to be able to say anything, and Alain quickly thought that apparently there was a way to make the red head to shut up. She just smiled, her eyes shining brightly in the moonlight, but eventually she did open her mouth. After a couple of seconds she managed to get the words out:

“What… was that for?”

“Just so you don’t have to experience the same as the poor Chespin,” he answered sarcastically, “and…  to make you shut up.”

She looked baffled and maybe even a little bit angry for a moment, but when she saw his expression, she understood that he didn’t mean any of it. Alain was looking at her softly, in a way Mairin had seen on his face only when he was looking at his Charizard. His usually pale cheeks also had a faint blush still left on them.

She run her fingers through his hair once, and then settled to rest her head on his lap. Neither said anything until they left the rock, but both knew something had just changed about their relationship. In the future they would have to talk about it, but right now they just wanted to enjoy the moment, quietly.