Into The Forest

[ two ]

When I finally got back to Hogwarts, the sun was up and classes had started. The trees in the forest had been so close together that their tops had blocked out the view of the sun.

I was bruised and battered from my trip out of the forest, so it was no surprise that, when people saw me, they looked aghast.

"Amethyst!" Said a fellow Slytherin. "Are you okay? Let's get you to Madam Pomfrey!"

"No, no." I said as I pushed her away. "I need Dumbledore."

I finally reached the gargoyle that's outside the entrance to Dumbledores office. I was so frantic that I couldn't think of the password. "Argh! OPEN UP NOW BEFORE I BLAST YOU TO SMITHEREENS!" I yelled.

"You're quite rude." The gargoyle said as it moved aside.

"Thanks!" I muttered as I ran upstairs and into Dumbledore's office.

"Professor! Professor!" I cried as I ran to him and grabbed his arm. "You must come with me now! Draco has been taken by Centaurs in the Forbidden Forest!" I was now tugging on his dark blue robes, trying to get him to stand up, but, he wouldn't budge.

"Amethyst." Dumbledore said as he removed my hands from his arms. "Calm down, sit." I sat down as a little train appeared at the end of Dumbledore's desk and rolled  towards me. It had a tea kettle, a dish of sugar lumps, and teacups on it. "Have some tea." Dumbledore said.

I shakily poured some tea and added 3 sugar lumps. I drank some and it calmed me considerably.

"Now, Amethyst, tell me why Draco is in the Forbidden Forest and how you know exactly what happened to him?" Dumbledore leaned back in his chair with his hands pressed together. He drummed his fingertips together as he watched me from behind his half-moon spectacles.

I finished my tea and went to pour some more, but, the little train started leaving and I quickly replaced my cup on it and watched it roll away before disappearing. "It was my idea, Professor. I convinced Draco to go into the forest with me." I said looking at Fawkes the Phoneix, who sat on a perch behind Dumbledore.

"You do know that the Forbidden Forest is, well, Forbidden?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes." I said quietly.

"Then do tell me why you went in there?" He questioned.

"I've always wanted to go in! Since my first year. But, I knew it was dangerous, so, I decided to wait until the end of my last year here. You know, when I'm a more experienced Witch." I said as I twirled my thumbs.

"Yet, Draco got taken." Dumbledore said.

"Yes." I nodded. "I'm sorry! Please help me! Draco is in danger!" I exclaimed as I stood to my feet. "We must go now!"

"No." Dumbledore stated.

I was halfway to the door, I stopped and turned around. "What?" I asked.

"I will not help you. You must save Draco yourself. You must right your own wrongs." Dumbledore spoke nonchalantly, as if Draco wasn't in danger of dying.

"But, Professor! Draco may die!" I cried out.

"Then, you must find him quickly." Dumbledore stated with a small smile.

"Ugh!" I groaned and ran out of Dumbledore's office.

x x x

I stood outside the Forbidden Forest. "Ok, Amethyst. You can do this." My pep-talk to myself didn't make me feel any better, so, I took a deep breath and ran into the woods.

How was I going to find Draco? I wasn't sure where the area he got taken was, so, I just walked aimlessly as I tried to think of how to find Draco.

"Of course!" I squealed as I remembered that I had Draco's wand in the pocket of my robes. I pulled it out and balanced it on my palm. "Find Draco!" I whispered to it. The wand spun in my palm for a minute before pointing to the right.

I took a deep breath. "I hope you know where you're going."

I walked for hours, in which the wand continuously pointed in different directions. I soon reached a clearing and that's when the tip of Draco's wand lit up bright green and hovered a few inches above my hand. The light went out and then it returned to my hand.

I assumed that meant that we were where Draco was. I stepped into the clearing and called out. "Draco! Draco, are you here?" I called.

"Mmm! Mmm!" I heard a strange, muffled sound above me. I looked up and saw Draco, hanging upside down, wrapped in fine spider web. 

"Draco!" I yelled. "I'll get you down!" I pointed my wand at him. "Diffindo!" The spider web was slashed and Draco fell to the floor.

"Oof!" He said as he fell to the ground. "Ouch, that hurt!" He said angrily.

"I just saved your life and you're angry?" I frowned at him as I helped him up.

"Sorry, thanks. What took you so long anyway?" He  asked as he rubbed his head.

"I went to Dumbledore for help, but, he refused and said I had to save you. Then it took me ages to find you. Actually, your wand found you. I asked it to find you and it did." I smiled and handed him his wand.

"How'd you know to ask it to find me?" He questioned.

"Well, I know you can use it as a compass, so, I figured you could use it to find its owner. Ollivander always said that wands have thoughts and feelings." I smiled.

"Let's get out of here." He said and I nodded as we started to leave.

"After the Centaur ran off with you, what happened?" I asked as I tried to untangle my robes from a very prickly bush.

"He dropped me and everything went black. I'd only woken up a few minutes before you came for me." He said as he tried to untangle me from the branches. "I'm going to have to rip this, it won't come off otherwise."

"That's fine, I need new robes anyway." I said as he ripped the bottom hem of my robes.

"I'll buy them for you. I owe you since you saved my life." He said, smiling at me.

"Well," I started as we resumed walking. "Actually, you wouldn't have gotten caught if I hadn't forced you to come with me."

"You didn't force me to do anything, Amethyst. I wanted to come." He smiled.

I stopped walking and looked at him. "Pfft, you were scared! I persuaded you." I snickered. But, he didn't smile. He wasn't looking at me either. His eyes were wide and focused just above my head. I turned around.

Standing at nearly the height of the trees themselves, was a giant, black, spider. The light from our wands flickered in it's eight, reflective, eyes. It made clicking sounds before hissing loudly at us.

Draco yelled. "Run!" And we took off.