Seeker of my Heart

15. Searching for Spiders

I swallowed down my protest as we stood from our desks and slowly filed out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Professor Finnegan was determined to get us some real field work before we went out into the magical world and he'd heard reports that another colony of Acromantulas has made its home in the Forbidden Forest. We were old enough, and skilled enough, according to him, to take on the challenge.

I scowled at his back as he led us toward the front doors of the castle, an unmistakable bounce in his step. Professor Finnegan was altogether too eager for this in my opinion. Who wanted to traipse into the forest and look for spiders? I shivered in disgust and fear, ignoring the curious look of my partner.

Yoongi seemed to have cooled off in the last few days toward me but that wasn't exactly saying he warmed up either. We only spoke if necessary and that happened less and less as the days rolled by. I wasn't sure if I liked this new development in our relationship except that it was at least better than feeling like I was less than nothing.

"You okay, Shaw?" He asked, his voice low but with a taunting quality to it, one I couldn't quite place. Half of me reasoned he was teasing me and the other half almost wished it was flirting. "You afraid of the Forest?"

"I'm not afraid of the Forest, Min." I snapped back, my voice coming out harsher than I meant because I was, in fact, afraid of our mission.

Yoongi didn't respond and we remained quiet until Professor Finnegan stopped us at the entrance to the castle. He held up his hands for silence and waited for the rest of the class to stop talking before he spoke.

"As you are probably aware, Acromantulas are highly dangerous beasts, as classified by the Ministry." He added the last bit under his breath like he wasn't in agreement with them about this fact. "We are simply searching for evidence today that there might be a nest or colony in the Forbidden Forest again. You are encouraged to stay with your partner at all times and to remain within sight of another group. If you spot signs of their webs or hear the distinctive clicking, just shout and we will come to your aid."

"What should we shout?" Ember asked, his voice high with irritation. I could tell he was just as scared as I was but he wasn't even trying to hide it. Instead his fear turned into anger aimed at the Professor, who couldn't have cared less. "How will you know it is a shout that we've seen something or just someone screaming for fun?"

Professor Finnegan's eyes narrowed in his direction as he bit his cheek in thought. Then a devious smile crossed his face, one I was beginning to associate with the Professor breaking school rules or fucking with us because he could. "Fine, Brave, why don't we come up with a code word then? How about you scream 'Skunky Monkey' if you see the wee beasty?"

Nathaniel Grom, Ember Brave's partner in Defense Against the Dark Arts, leaned forward until his face was directly over my shoulder and shouted, "SKUNKY MONKEY!!" As he pushed me forward.

I hissed as I bumped into the back of Yoongi and then glared over my shoulder at the other boy, ready to punch his nose until it ran away from his ugly face. "What the fuck?" I yelled, irritated as my face turned red and nearly everyone in the entrance hall, save for Caleb, all laughed at my expense.

"Sorry Professor," The boy said, ignoring me as his gaze landed back near the doors. "You just said 'beast' not which one, I was a little confused."

I clenched my fist and was just about to raise it when I felt strong fingers wrap around my wrist. I looked down in shock only to find that Yoongi had turned toward the boy, his hand stopping me from lashing out. His look was cold and bored but the tip of his wand flicked minutely at the boy and a slow, sexy smile transformed the bottom of his face.