✯ CHAPTER FOURTEEN ✯

❝Told you he's a coward.❞

May, 1992.

WITH EXAMS COMING up, things started to get a little easier as all the studying Estella was doing caused a distraction in her mind from everything else that was going on. Her, Harry, Ron and Hermione kept to themselves, working late into the night, trying to remember the ingredients in complicated potions, learn charms and spells by heart, memorize the dates of magical discoveries and goblin rebellions....

Then, one afternoon when Estella was walking with Harry back from the library, they heard somebody whimpering from a classroom up ahead. As they drew closer, they realised it was Quirrel, and he was talking to someone.

"No -- no -- not again, please--"

Whoever he was talking to was inevitably threatening him. The two students moved closer.

"All right -- all right -- " they heard Quirrell sob.

Next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the classroom straightening his turban. He was pale and looked as though he was about to cry. He strode out of sight; Estella didn't think Quirrell had even noticed her and Harry. She stood for a minute and waited until she knew he was gone before taking a step into the now empty room.

"Strange," she said, turning to look at Harry. "He was talking to someone, but the rooms empty."

Harry grabbed her by the arm, pulling her away from the place. "It is strange, but we've been in enough trouble already. Let's just go back to the common room."

Estella rolled her eyes at the boy, finding his words quite hypocritical, but continued walking anyway without an argument.

She knew that her and Harry were both thinking the same thing, though. There was no doubt that Snape had just left that room -- and from how it had sounded, Quirrel had finally given in. The Potions Master was probably closer to getting the stone, and there was absolutely nothing that they could do about it.

They went back to the common room and explained what they'd seen to Ron and Hermione.

"Snape's done it, then!" said Ron. "If Quirrell's told him how to break his Anti-Dark Force spell--"

"There's still Fluffy, though," said Hermione.

"I hate Snape," Estella said, "but he's not dumb. I can guarantee you he's found a way around that."

Ron nodded. "There's probably a book about getting past three-headed dogs somewhere. So what do we do, Harry?"

Before the Potter boy could reply, Hermione stepped in for him. "Go to Dumbledore. That's what we should have done ages ago. If we try anything ourselves we'll be thrown out for sure."

Estella nodded. She actually agreed with this.

"But we've got no proof!" explained Harry. "Quirrell's too scared to back us up. Snape's only got to say he doesn't know how the troll got in at Halloween and that he was nowhere near the third floor -- who do you think they'll believe, him or us? It's not exactly a secret we hate him, Dumbledore'll think we made it up to get him sacked. Filch wouldn't help us if his life depended on it, he's too friendly with Snape, and the more students get thrown out, the better, he'll think. And don't forget, we're not supposed to know about the Stone or Fluffy. That'll take a lot of explaining."

This convinced the two girls. Not Ron, though.

"If we just do a bit of poking around--" he began.

"No," said Harry flatly, "we've done enough poking around."

Estella nodded. "I don't want to get expelled."

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

The next morning at breakfast, notes were delivered to Estella, Harry, Hermione and Neville. They were all the same:

Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight.

Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall.

Professor McGonagall.

"I forgot we still have detention to do," said Estella, dragging out a sigh. "Why's it so late at night?"

Hermione shook her head. "I don't know, but at the end of the day I guess we deserve it."

"Hopefully it's nothing too bad," said Harry.

At eleven o'clock that night, they said good-bye to Ron in the common room and went down to the entrance hall with Neville. Filch was already there -- and so was Malfoy. Estella had also forgotten that Malfoy had gotten a detention, too.

"Follow me," said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading them outside. "I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?"

Estella rolled her eyes, and whispered to Harry, "Nope." He glared at her.

"Oh yes. . . hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me. . . It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out. . . hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well oiled in case they're ever needed. . . Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do."

They marched off across the dark grounds. Neville kept sniffing. Estella wondered what their punishment was going to be. It must be something really horrible, or Filch wouldn't be sounding so delighted.

The moon was bright, but clouds scudding across it kept throwing them into darkness. Ahead, Estella could see the lighted windows of Hagrid's hut. Then they heard a distant shout.

"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started."

The Gryffindors suddenly held faces of relief, but Filch noticed this and pushed it out of them almost at once. "I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again -- it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece."

Neville let out a little moan, Estella fought the urge to scream, and Malfoy stopped dead in his tracks.

"The forest?" he repeated. He sounded scared. "We can't go in there at night -- there's all sorts of things in there -- werewolves, I heard."

Neville clutched the sleeve of Estella's robe and made a choking noise. She rubbed his arm, sympathetically.

"That's your problem, isn't it?" said Filch, his voice cracking with glee. "Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?"

Estella rolled her eyes. "It's not even full moon. Nothing's going to happen to you if you come across one."

Malfoy just gave her a look as if to say 'shut up.'

Hagrid suddenly came striding toward them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.

"Abou' time," he said. "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, Estella, Harry, Hermione?"

"I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid," said Filch coldly, "they're here to be punished, after all."

"That's why yer late, is it?" said Hagrid, frowning at Filch. "Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here. "

"I'll be back at dawn," said Filch, "for what's left of them," he added nastily, and he turned and started back toward the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness.

Malfoy now turned to Hagrid.

"I'm not going into the forest," he said, nervously.

"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts," said Hagrid fiercely. "Yeh've done wrong an' now yeh've got ter pay fer it."

"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this, he'd--"

"-- tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts," Hagrid growled. "Copyin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or yeh'll get out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on."

Malfoy didn't move. He glared at the gamekeeper for a few seconds, but then just looked at the ground.

"Right then," said Hagrid, "now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment."

He led them to the very edge of the forest. Holding his lamp up high, he pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees. A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the forest.

"Look there," said Hagrid, "see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."

"Aw, that's really sad," said Estella, looking at the ground. "I hope it's okay."

Malfoy then spoke up, fear evident in his voice. "And what if the unicorn finds us first?"

"There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang," said Hagrid. "An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."

"I want Fang," said Malfoy plainly, looking at the dog's teeth.

"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward," said Hagrid. "So me, Harry, Estella an' Hermione'll go one way an' Draco, Neville, an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practice now -- that's it -- an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh -- so, be careful -- let's go."

Estella gave Neville a sympathetic look as she saw him let out a sigh. "Sorry, Nev. Good luck."

The forest was black and silent. A little way into it they reached a fork in the earth path, and Harry, Estella, Hermione, and Hagrid took the left path while Malfoy, Neville, and Fang took the right.

They walked in silence, their eyes on the ground. Every now and then a ray of moonlight through the branches above lit a spot of silver-blue blood on the fallen leaves.

"Could a werewolf be killing the unicorns?" asked Harry, randomly, once they had been walking for around five or ten minutes.

Estella groaned. "Werewolves aren't the only dangerous creatures around, you know? In fact they're probably one of the least dangerous creatures in this forest."

"They're not fast enough, anyway," said Hagrid, ignoring Estella. She had a funny feeling the gamekeeper probably knew about Remus. "It's not easy ter catch a unicorn, they're powerful magic creatures. I never knew one ter be hurt before."

They walked past a mossy tree stump. Estella could hear running water; there must be a stream somewhere close by. There were still spots of unicorn blood here and there along the winding path.

"You all right, Hermione?" Hagrid whispered. "Don' worry, it can't've gone far if it's this badly hurt, an' then we'll be able ter -- GET BEHIND THAT TREE!"

Hagrid grabbed the three first years and pulled them behind a huge oak tree, before pulling out one of his arrows, fitting it into his crossbow, and raising it, ready to fire if he needed to.

They listened. Something was slithering over dead leaves nearby: it sounded like a cloak trailing along the ground. Hagrid was squinting up the dark path, but after a few seconds, the sound faded away.

"I knew it," he murmured. "There's summat in here that shouldn' be."

"A werewolf?" Harry suggested. Hermione grabbed Estella's arm to stop her from hitting him.

"No, not a werewolf. It's not a full moon. I told you."

"That wasn' no werewolf an' it wasn' no unicorn, neither," said Hagrid grimly. "Right, follow me, but careful, now."

They walked more slowly, ears straining for the faintest sound. Suddenly, in a clearing ahead, something definitely moved.

"Who's there?" Hagrid called. "Show yerself -- I'm armed!"

And into the clearing came -- was it a man, or a horse? To the waist, a man, with red hair and beard, but below that was a horse's gleaming chestnut body with a long, reddish tail. Estella's jaw dropped. It was a centaur.

"Oh, it's you, Ronan," said Hagrid in relief. "How are yeh?"

They shook hands.

"Good evening to you, Hagrid," said Ronan. He had a deep, sorrowful voice. "Were you going to shoot me?"

"Can't be too careful, Ronan," said Hagrid, patting his crossbow. "There's summat bad loose in this forest. This is Harry Potter, Estella Lupin an' Hermione Granger, by the way. Students up at the school. An' this is Ronan, you two. He's a centaur."

"We've noticed," said Hermione. Estella was too busy staring at the creature in awe to answer.

"Good evening," said Ronan. "Students, are you? And do you learn much, up at the school?"

"Erm--kind of I guess--"

"A bit," said Hermione timidly.

"A bit. Well, that's something." Ronan sighed. He flung back his head and stared at the sky. "Mars is bright tonight. "

"Yeah," said Hagrid, glancing up, too. "Listen, I'm glad we've run inter yeh, Ronan, 'cause there's a unicorn bin hurt -- you seen anythin'?"

Ronan didn't answer immediately. He stared unblinkingly upward, then sighed again.

"Always the innocent are the first victims," he said. "So it has been for ages past, so it is now."

"Yeah," said Hagrid, "but have yeh seen anythin' Ronan? Anythin' unusual?"

"Mars is bright tonight," Ronan repeated, while Hagrid watched him impatiently. "Unusually bright."

"Does that even matter?" Estella whispered to Harry and Hermione, who shrugged.

"Yeah, but I was meanin' anythin' unusual a bit nearer home," said Hagrid. "So yeh haven't noticed anythin' strange?"

Yet again, Ronan took a while to answer. At last, he said, "The forest hides many secrets."

A movement in the trees behind Ronan made Hagrid raise his bow again, but it was only a second centaur, black-haired and -bodied and wilder-looking than Ronan.

"Hullo, Bane," said Hagrid. "All right?"

"Good evening, Hagrid, I hope you are well?"

"Well enough. Look, I've jus' bin askin' Ronan, you seen anythin' odd in here lately? There's a unicorn bin injured -- would yeh know anythin' about it?"

Bane walked over to stand next to Ronan. He looked skyward. "Mars is bright tonight," he said simply.

"We've heard," said Hagrid grumpily. "Well, if either of you do see anythin', let me know, won't yeh? We'll be off, then."

Harry, Estella and Hermione followed him out of the clearing, staring over their shoulders at Ronan and Bane until the trees blocked their view.

"Never," said Hagrid irritably, "try an' get a straight answer out of a centaur. Ruddy stargazers. Not interested in anythin' closer'n the moon."

"Are there many of them in here?" asked Estella, curiously. "They're very beautiful."

"Oh, a fair few. . . Keep themselves to themselves mostly, but they're good enough about turnin' up if ever I want a word. They're deep, mind, centaurs. . . they know things. . . jus' don' let on much."

"D'you think that was a centaur we heard earlier?" said Harry.

"Did that sound like hooves to you? Nah, if yeh ask me, that was what's bin killin' the unicorns -- never heard anythin' like it before."

The four of them continued walking, all keeping their eyes out for anything suspicious. Estella eventually did see something, something that caused a knot to form in her stomach as panic started to wash over her -- red sparks.

"Hagrid, look! The others are in danger!"

The huge man stopped in his tracks. "You three wait here!" he shouted. "Stay on the path, I'll come back for yeh!"

They heard him crashing away through the undergrowth and stood looking at each other, very scared, until they couldn't hear anything but the rustling of leaves around them.

"You don't think they've been hurt, do you?" whispered Hermione.

"I don't care if Malfoy has, but if something's got Neville. . ." replied Harry, shaking, "it's our fault he's here in the first place."

Estella nodded and made a mental note to apologise to Neville at some point. He didn't deserve to be here as much as they did, really.

The minutes dragged by. Their ears seemed sharper than usual. Estella's seemed to be picking up every sigh of the wind, every cracking twig. What was going on? Where were the others?

At last, a great crunching noise announced Hagrid's return. Malfoy, Neville, and Fang were with him. Hagrid was fuming. Malfoy, it seemed, had sneaked up behind Neville and grabbed him as a joke. Neville had panicked and sent up the sparks.

"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin'. Right, we're changin' groups -- Neville, you stay with me, Estella an' Hermione, Harry, you go with Fang an' this idiot. I'm sorry," Hagrid added in a whisper to Harry, "but he'll have a harder time frightenin' you, an' we've gotta get this done."

So the two groups parted ways again, and Estella couldn't help but feel extremely sorry for Harry as she watched him walk with Malfoy in the other direction. She hoped Draco didn't try anything with him now that they were alone -- it wouldn't exactly be out of character for him.

"Oh, I do feel bad for Harry," said Hermione -- her, too, watching as the two boys walked away. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"Fine," Estella replied, hesitantly. "Even if Malfoy tries anything, Harry's good at defending himself."

"That's true. Definitely a better choice than Neville."

"Hey!" said a voice from behind them, and Hermione suddenly covered her mouth, widening her eyes. It seemed she had forgotten that the Longbottom boy was now with them.

"I am so sorry about that, Neville. It's just -- I mean -- I'm sure you know what I meant."

Neville sighed. "I did, I guess. It was a valid point anyway. I can be a coward sometimes."

"Hey, don't put yourself down like that. You wouldn't have been put in Gryffindor if you didn't have any bravery inside of you," Estella soothed. "I'd say Malfoy's more of a coward than you are."

"You don't need to lie to me, Lupin, it's okay."

Estella shook her head. "I'm not lying. And, you know, I've actually been meaning to talk to you for a while."

"Hmm?" said Neville.

"It's about tonight. I'm sorry," she muttered, looking down. "I hope you know that we really didn't mean for you to be here. There actually was a dragon -- it wasn't fake. We never meant for you to get in trouble, I swear."

"S'ok, I believe you," Neville said quietly. "It's not like I got in that much trouble anyway. Detention is nothing, really -- and yeah, my Gran was mad, but it could've been so much worse."

"The house points," Estella said sadly.

"Gryffindor got over that quickly, and you know it. I haven't heard anything about that in atleast three days now."

"True," said Estella, and she was about to continue talking when a sound of screaming echoed through the forest suddenly. Hagrid looked around, alarmingly.

"What was that?"

It was Malfoy. He suddenly came rushing out of the trees, Fang at his heel, a look of terror on his face.

"What happened, Malfoy?" asked Hagrid. "Where's Harry?"

"There was a dead unicorn. Something is drinking it's blood," Malfoy said, sounding horrified. "I ran because it scared me. Potter obviously didn't follow."

Estella looked at Neville, chuckling. "Told you he's a coward."

"Stay here. All of you," Hagrid said firmly. "I'm going to go looking for Harry. Do not move."

"But Hagrid, Harry's there!" Hermione shouted, pointing. And indeed, Harry was approaching them, on the back of Firenze the centaur.

He slid off it's back, finishing