UNVEIL | D.M (UNRAVEL BOOK 2)

[ 23 ]

Oh, shit.

There stood the massive tree which Aine heard many dreadful stories about— The Whomping Willow. Its trunks twisted, connecting to many thin needle-like branches. "You guys do know what tree that is... Right?" Aine says to her friends, mouth wide open like their eyes. It took them almost a second to start panicking after, "Ron! Run!" Hermione shouts, eyes filled with worry as she watches the Whomping Willow swaying, dancing threateningly. But the ginger-haired boy was equally mortified as them, he raises a shaking finger, pointing to them— No— Behind them.

"Aine! Hermione, Harry! Run! It's the Grim!"

The three of them whipped their heads back, and gulped, Ron was right. The black beast whose fangs baring at them was right behind them. Aine breathed deeply, there it was. The same monster who gave her so many nightmares this year. The black dog whom she dreamt of hunting her down was right before her eyes. She watches, as it charges in their direction, its limbs taking it into a leap over her friends and her. Her legs moved, taking her into a stance in front of her friends before she could fully grasp the situation. She turned, making eye contact with the beast who was already in front of her fallen friend. 

"RON!" she shrieked, watching the 'grim' sinking its teeth into Ron's leg, and the boy let out a painful cry.

"HARRY!" Ron cries, grabbing onto the grass around him for life.

"RON!"

"RON!"

"HERMIONE! AINE—"

And then he was no more, disappeared into the tunnel beneath the Whomping Willow, towed by the black dog into the darkness. Hermione and Aine quickly dashed towards the tunnel, but before they could dive in. Their bodies were slammed by a trunk as if being barred by the tree. The girls fell back, bodies thumping onto the grass ground roughly. Aine groaned, sitting up with the help of Harry steadying her and Hermione. "Ow... That really hurt..." Aine mutters, wincing. "Are you two okay?" Harry asks.

"Yeah... I'm fine."

"Me too."

Their eyes travelled down in the hole, and then upwards to the tree, "We've got to go after him!" Hermione says urgently.

"We have to."

"Now!" Aine shouts, taking the lead, running straight to the rabbit's hole, "Dodge!", immediately ducking alongside Hermione. Harry, unfortunately, got caught by the trunk, flinging him hard to the side, his glasses falling out of his face. Aine quickly crawls towards him, but then she heard another scream, as the Whomping Willow swooped Hermione off her feet, sending her into the air. "Hermione!" Aine hollers as she watches her friend screaming her heads off, "Come on! Come on, Harry!" the raven-haired girl beckons.

She quickly fiddles the grass for Harry's glasses but quickly grabs him and rolls over before the tree could squash them both into the soil. Why was such a dangerous thing on the school's land? Well, then again, the Chamber of Secrets was also equally, if not gravely more dangerous. Just who on earth planted this tree here? Aine grits her teeth, ending her inner monologue and holding onto Harry's wrists as he quickly wears his glasses, in a distance, she could hear Hermione's screaming slowly fading in again. Her eyes aimed around, to find her brunette friend until she saw, the girl riding on the tree's trunk, her shrilling cry sending Aine's ears ringing, "AI—NE—~!"

"Oh, dear Merlin..." She cursed, dodging another trunk, only to be slapped by another, red lines started to fill her face as the leaves cut her, and she stumbles backwards. "Stoppppp!" she grumbles loudly, clearly annoyed by the tree.

Harry reached out to her, but as soon as she could hold onto his hand, his body flinging past her by Hermione. "For Godric's sake!" she yells, now crawling on the ground to avoid being grabbed by anyone, human or tree. Then, almost out of nowhere, something flew straight before her eyes, just as she was about to jump into the tunnel. She flinched. Then, another, and again, her heart dropped by the sudden flying thing in front of her eyes. Was this how Harry and other quidditch members felt when they see a bludger? She turned to the skies, finding her friends who were no longer screaming. Shrugging and rolling her eyes, she threw her body down into the hole, and darkness envelops her surrounding.