What If? - Drarry

Chapter Five

Harry spent the whole of the next day worrying about his upcoming detention, and from Ron's stiff, distracted movements, he could tell he felt the same way. It wasn't that Harry was scared of the detention - it was the anger of the other Gryffindors. Even Fred and George weren't talking to them. After getting his first taste of what it was like to have friends, it was a bitter blow to have it ripped away so quickly. Why hadn't they just put the bloody cloak on?

Unfortunately, the more Harry dreaded it, the faster the day seemed to go. Before he knew it, dinner was over the sun was sinking behind ominous clouds. He and Ron prepared to leave in silence, and despite thinking about nothing else all day, still managed to be late. Malfoy sneered at them as they approached the front doors.

"Nice time keeping, Gryffindors." He jeered. "Maybe that Remembrall would have come in handy tonight."

Neville looked at them reproachfully, fear obvious in every movement he made. "Sorry," Harry mouthed. Neville looked away.

"Very clever, boys," Filch muttered as he led them across the grounds, "Chose a nice, cold night for a wander through the grounds." Filch kept a continuous stream of threats going as they walked, putting all the boys on edge, but when Harry realised that they were heading to Hagrid's hut he relaxed a little. He was sure Hagrid wouldn't make them do anything too bad...

As they neared the cabin, Hagrid stepped out of the door with Fang at his heels. Filch greeted him with a nod, and said, loudly,

"I hope you make the little buggers suffer, Hagrid."

Hagrid shook his head as he watched Filch's shuffling figure retreat towards the school.

"Poor old bastard," He said to himself. Then, turning to the boys "Well, what're you waiting for? Let's go." He began to stride towards the forest with Fang galloping at his heels.

"You surely don't mean for us to go in there," Malfoy attempted to sneer, but the quaver in his voice betrayed his fear. "There's dangerous stuff in there, maybe we should-"

"If you didn't want to go in the forest," Said Hagrid impatiently, "You shouldn't've done stupid things what're against the rules."

Malfoy muttered something about his father as they began to walk into the forest, Which Harry didn't quite catch. While they walked, Hagrid filled them in on what they would be doing. Apparently, something was attacking the unicorns and draining their blood. Hagrid shook his head sadly as he spoke.

"Never seen anything like it," He sighed. "To kill a unicorn..."

The forest got darker as they walked deeper in until, even by the light of Hagrid's lamp, the world seemed a spectrum of grey and dark blue. The splashes of unicorn blood were the only bright things in the forest. The eeriest thing about the forest was the way sounds appeared shockingly suddenly - first, there would be complete, dead silence, and suddenly a sound would loom into being without warning, before vanishing and leaving an empty, echoing absence behind it. Harry saw Malfoy jump a little as a wolf (or werewolf?) howled in the distance, the lonely sound creeping around them and sending shivers through their spines. Finally, Hagrid slowed to a stop and thought for a moment.

"Right," He said, finally, "I think we should split up. Now Harry, Ron, I would usually put you two together, but this is supposed to be a punishment, not an adventure. Ron, Neville, you stick with me, please. Harry and Draco, you guys take Fang. Follow the trail of unicorn blood, and if you come across anything suspicious, send red sparks into the air. I'll come over. Don't yell unless you get attacked, or you'll scare the creature away."

"Is that a bad thing?" Asked Neville shakily.

0o0oDraco0o0o

Trying not to show his fear, Draco trailed after Harry through the murky depths of the forest, concentrating on stopping his hands from shaking, and trying not to think about the horror stories the older Slytherins often told about students who had supposedly died horrible deaths in the forest. After the deafening silence of the forest had filled their ears for several minutes, Potter took a deep breath.