People Watching.

Chapter Twenty-Two.

(Y/n) quietly got out of bed. She slid on a flannel-patterned jacket over her cropped black tank top and her heather-grey joggers. She slid on her shoes and checked the Map. It was well past midnight and Ron, Harry, Fred, George, and Ginny were still in their common room. What was taking so long? Five minutes past and the twins eventually went up to their dorm followed by Ginny who hurriedly went to her own dorm.
Finally, the boys were on the move. She patiently waited for them to get closer, then she tucked the map away (and cleared it). She hurriedly exited her room, again being stopped by Effie's mewling. She took her time meeting them, much to the boys' annoyance as she joined them under the Cloak.
It was another difficult journey through the castle, dodging all the teachers. At last they reached the entrance hall, slid back the lock on the oak front doors, squeezed between them, trying to stop any creaking, and stepped out into the moonlit grounds.

"'Course," said Ron abruptly as they strode across the black grass, "we might get to the forest and find there's nothing to follow. Those spiders might not've been going there at all. I know it looked like they were moving in that sort of general direction, but..." His voice trailed off hopefully.
They reached Hagrid's house, sad and sorry-looking with its blank windows. When Harry pushed the door open, Fang went mad with joy at the sight of them. Worried he might wake everyone at the castle with his deep, booming barks, they hastily fed him treacle toffee from a tin on the mantelpiece, which glued his teeth together. (Y/n) was not happy with the boys' choice.
Harry left the Invisibility Cloak on Hagrid's table. There would be no need for it in the pitch-dark forest.

"C'mon, Fang, we're going for a walk," said Harry, patting his leg, and Fang bounded happily out of the house behind them, dashed to the edge of the forest, and lifted his leg against a large sycamore tree.

Harry and (Y/n) took out their wands, murmured, "Lumos!" and a tiny light appeared at the end of them, just enough to let them watch the path for signs of spiders.

"Good thinking," Ron said. "I'd light mine, too, but you know— it'd probably blow something up..."
Harry tapped Ron on the shoulder, pointing at the grass. Two solitary soldiers were hurrying away from the wandlight into the shade of the tree.
"Okay," Ron sighed as though resigned to the worst. "I'm ready. Let's go."
So, with Fang scampering around them, sniffing tree roots and leaves, they entered the forest. By the glow of Harry's wand, they followed the steady trickle of spiders moving along the path. They walked behind them for about twenty minutes, not speaking, listening hard for noises other than breaking twigs and rustling leaves. Then, when the trees had become thicker than ever, so that the stars overhead were no longer visible, and Harry and (Y/n)'s wands shone alone in the sea of dark, they saw their spider guides leaving the path.
Harry paused, trying to see where the spiders were going, but everything outside his little sphere of light was pitch-black. He had never been this deep into the forest before. He could vividly remember Hagrid advising him not to leave the forest path last time he'd been in here. But Hagrid was miles away, probably sitting in a cell in Azkaban, and he had also said to follow the spiders.

Something we touched Harry's hand and he jumped backward, crushing Ron's foot, but it was only Fang's nose.
"What d'you reckon?" Harry asked Ron and (Y/n), whose eyes he could just make out, reflecting the light. 

"We've come this far," breathed Ron.
So they followed the darting shadows of the spiders into the trees. They couldn't move very quickly now; there were tree roots and stumps in their way, barely visible in the near blackness. Harry could feel Fang's hot breath on his hand. More than once, they had to stop so that Harry or (Y/n) could crouch down and find the spiders in the wandlight.
They walked for what seemed like at least half an hour, their robes snagging on low-slung branches and brambles. After a while, they noticed that the ground seemed to be sloping downward, though the trees were as thick as ever.
Then Fang suddenly let loose a great, echoing bark, resulting in Harry, Ron, and (Y/n) jumping out of their skins.
"What?" said Ron loudly, looking around into the pitch-dark, and gripping Harry's elbow very hard.