An American's Guide to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Chapter 9: The Forbidden Forest

"Yeh'll go in pairs. Whatever yeh do, don' split up. 'S bloody dangerous in there alone. Finnigan, go with Bulstrode, Greengrass and Nott, Macmillan with Boot, and Carter with Malfoy." Hagrid said, staring down at the apprehensive teens in front of him. "If yeh need my help or if yeh find the missin' kneazle, send up sparks. Off yeh go."

The group split off and began reluctantly wandering into the forest. After a long, awkward period of time of walking in silence with Draco, Emily cleared her throat.

"Something wrong, Malfoy?"

He kept walking and refused to respond, eyes on the ground.

"Really? You have nothing to say? I almost just tripped over myself five minutes ago and you have no creative insults to fling at me?"

Nothing.

"I'm making it so easy for you, Blondie. Say something." She turned to face him and lightly jabbed him in the arm.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were obsessed with me." He retorted.

"There he is!" She cheered loudly.

"Will you be quiet? Something's going to find us."

"What, are you scared?" She teased.

At that moment, the bushes to Draco's right rustled and he shushed Emily aggressively.

"Oh my god, you totally are!" She laughed.

"I'm serious." He whispered as the rustling grew louder, grabbing his wand out of the pocket of his robes.

"I'm Draco Malfoy and I'm afraid of the dark!" She mocked.

He clasped her hand over her mouth and held his wand to his lips as a shadow emerged from the bushes.

"Run." He mouthed.

"What?" She asked, voice still muffled by his hand.

The figure slowly moved into the light and Emily's eyes widened. It released a deep growl and revealed two glimmering fangs.

"Run!" He shouted this time, grabbing her hand and dashing in the opposite direction. Shocked by his sudden movement, she tripped and landed on her side. She attempted to ignore the shooting pain through her hip as he pulled her back up onto her feet. The two of them weaved quickly around trees and bushes until they were both out of breath.

Emily leaned against a tree and slipped to the ground, muttering "I think we lost it."

"What the bloody hell was that thing?" He asked between breaths, gripping his knees with his hands.

"Does it matter?"

"Emily." He interjected.

"I mean, I don't hear anything right now--"

"Emily!" 

"-- and it was big enough that we would definitely know if it was still chasing us--"

"Emily!" He yelled. He patted his robes and dug through his pockets in a panic.

"What?" She asked, clearly annoyed at his interruptions.

"Do you have your wand?"

"What?" She repeated.

"We need to send up sparks for Hagrid and I must've dropped my wand at some point. Do you still have yours?"

She stuck her hand into her robes. "Yeah, thank god." To her dismay, she pulled it out to find it snapped into two even halves. "Shit."