Y/N was in detention, but not the ordinary kind that students had to copy lines and rewrite a hundred times. Oh, no, no– not that kind.

The kind where you were surrounded by pitch darkness while walking into the grim Forbidden Forest, that contained all sorts of life-threatening danger, praying that you'd live to see another day, if lucky. THAT kind of detention.

Five of them were getting punished; Y/N, Hermione, and Harry got theirs for walking around Hogwarts past curfew to help Hagrid with his dragon, Norbert, situation.

Draco got his for reporting the three of them to McGonagall and their secret for hiding an illegal dragon at school, not realizing he was out past the curfew himself.

And then there was Neville who got caught roaming around the halls to warn Harry about Malfoy's plan to expose his secret for keeping a dragon to a professor. He had good intentions, but he still broke the rules by leaving the common room after the curfew.

A/N: This version of the story is taken from the book where Neville got detention along with Hermione, Harry, and Draco. Not Ron.

And so, they all got punished for it. First, they lost their houses 50 points EACH and if that's not bad enough, they're about to spend a night in the dangerous, dark, Forbidden Forest.

All the children were scared out of their wits, even Malfoy who usually claimed to fear nothing couldn't hide his panic in his voice.

All were scared but one: (your name).

She may have appeared eleven years old but her mind was mature and her heart was as tough as steel, thus the darkness didn't scare her in the slightest.

Unlike the rest, she knew exactly what to do if she were ever in danger which was probably why she looked so calm while entering the Forbidden Forest, whereas the others were shivering in fear.

In Y/N's mind and logic, if any creature wanted to harm her or her friends at any given moment, she was prepared to Avada Kedavra them into oblivion.

They walked on the dense, dark trees. The forest was eerily silent and black. They walked in silence with their eyes on the ground. Now and then, a ray of moonlight through the branches above lit a spot of sliver-blue blood on the fallen leaves.

Hermione was clinging to Y/N's arms like a lifeline, Neville did just the same but with Harry and Malfoy– He refused to show any weaknesses, even though they could see clearly that his legs were trembling out of fear.

Then, the group stumbled upon a mysterious pool of liquid while on their journey through the dark forest. It was thick like blood but not the usual red color. It was shiny and silvery, almost like someone accidentally spilled mercury on the ground.

"Look there. See that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's a unicorn blood..." Hagrid said.

Part of the detention was to help Hagrid track down the injured unicorn, so he separated the group into two.

At first, he paired Malfoy with Longbottom with himself and Fang, whereas Harry, Hermione, and Y/N were paired as the second group.

However, Malfoy had played a prank on Longbottom, sneaking up behind him and grabbing him from the back, which led to the poor boy's panic and caused a scene.

Hence, Hagrid was fuming at Draco and decided to rearrange the team. He thought it would be better for the troublesome Malfoy to stay as far away from a scaredy-cat like Longbottom.

"Neville, you stay with me, Hermione, and Y/N. Harry, you go with Fang and this idiot. I'm sorry." Hagrid added in a whisper to Harry, "But he'll have a harder time frightenin' you, and we've gotta get this done."

"I'll go with them." Y/N volunteered, stepping forward.

"Are you sure?" Hermione whispered to her, "I mean– Malfoy will be there."

"Exactly," Y/N whispered back with a wink.

The two groups split up and continued roaming around the Forbidden Forest, looking for any signs of a unicorn. Draco held a single fire lamp in his hand, becoming the group's light source through the dark and thick forest.

The four of them, including Fang, had been walking for nearly half an hour and were getting deeper into the heart of the forest. It had gotten so deep that it was difficult for them to follow the path as the forest was too thick.

A trail of unicorn blood could also be seen on the ground, and it was clear that it was getting thicker. There were splashes of it on the ground and the tree's roots as if the poor creature had been thrashing around in pain.

"Draco..." Y/N spoke.

"WhOt?"

"Whatever you do, do NOT run away under any circumstances. It's more dangerous if we split up." She said, knowing Draco would run away.

He scoffed, "What do you take me for? A coward? Why aren't you saying that to Potter? He's more likely to run away if you ask me–"

Suddenly, they once again stumbled upon a similar silvery liquid, only this time, it had led to something, and it was a unicorn corpse. It was lying cold and flat on the ground like a brutal crime scene. Who would do such a thing to a majestic creature?

Unfortunately, they were about to meet the culprit behind the crime.

Then, out of the shadow, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast. The figure lowered its head over the wound on the animal's side and started sucking on its blood. It was such a gut-wrenching scene that it sent shivers down their spine, the unpleasant kind.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Draco let out a terrible scream and bolted. So did Fang.

"Draco!" Y/N yelled and was about to chase after him, but stopped as she was torn between stopping Draco from running away or protecting Harry from the creepy figure.

She kept looking back and forth between Harry and the run-away Malfoy, contemplating for a moment before reluctantly deciding to go after Draco.

"I'll come back–" she said to Harry before leaving him alone with the hooded figure for Malfoy.

Y/N knows it was foolish to abandon a friend in danger for someone in lesser threat, yet she did it anyway. Perhaps if she didn't know the story's outcome, she would've stayed by Potter's side and protected him from the ghastly creature that was Voldemort.

But that's the thing...

She knew the story like she knew the back of her hand. Which is exactly why she knew that Harry would turn out fine eventually. Malfoy, however, needed a bit of protection, not from danger, but from himself.

Y/N eventually caught up to him and tugged him by his arm, forcing him to stop running, "Draco, stop–"

"Bloody, NO! You see that creature just now? It killed the damn unicorn– what makes you think it won't kill us?" He said with panic in his voice.

"I know, but— you don't just run away and leave your friends behind–"

"We are not friends!" He snapped and pulled his arm away harshly from Y/N, his prejudice was showing even at times like this.

Y/N, still panting from earlier, let out a deep sigh, trying to stay composed. "I know you don't get along with Harry, but that's no reason for you to just leave him behind to die–"

"I meant YOU too." He cuts her off.

Her face slowly faltered as she stared at him, digesting his words. "What...?" She muttered confusedly.

"You and I, we are NOT friends. Potter and I were never friends to begin with but at least he knows it! But you seem to believe that we are, and that is simply NOT TRUE."

Y/N stayed quiet for a moment, there was a hint of hurt in her eyes that she couldn't quite mask it from the pale boy to see.

As for Draco, seeing her smiling at him always made him uncomfortable. However, for some mysterious reason, at that moment, seeing her anything but smiling made him feel...

Awful.

Something was twisting in his stomach and it was much more unpleasant than he'd imagined. He had never felt this way for anyone, it was all new, so foreign, and he hated it. He tried to shrug the feeling off his chest but the more he denied it, the stronger it became.

He'd usually enjoy seeing people looking mad or upset, yet somehow this was different, it was affecting him. He could see the hurt and disappointment in her eyes and that made him immensely uncomfortable, more so than when she had a smile on her face.

He didn't quite understand why he was feeling this way but he wasn't just about to admit his feelings and added, "I would never be friends with a mudblood."

He muttered coldly, but there was a hint of hesitation in his eyes as if he spoke those words not only to convince Y/N but also himself.

After a few more moments of silence, Draco let his words sink into both of them while quietly watching for her reaction.

He'd hoped his words were enough for her to leave him alone, but there was something else thudding in his heart that he was desperately trying to suppress. Guilt? Or perhaps– the truth.

Whatever it was, he didn't want to acknowledge it. But he still felt it, deep down, way deep down in his complex heart.

Y/N on the other hand, shut her eyes and tried to compose herself, taking in deep exhales while reminding herself of Draco's character.

She knows it wasn't Draco's doing alone, that he was just written to be a villain for the story, so she shouldn't take it too personally. And she kept repeating that to herself over and over again.

Once she was composed, she slowly opened her eyes and looked at him indifferently. Her face was serious, lacking the warmth she usually had, and her hands were folded into tight fists by her sides.

"I don't care."

She said firmly before taking his hand and dragging him back to where they came from.

Her sudden contact against his skin caught Draco off guard as he turned flustered, "l-let go off me–" He struggled, trying to free his hand from her grip.

But it was impossible as Y/N had cast a jinx on them that made their hands glued together to prevent Malfoy from running or pushing her away.

And they stayed that way until they reunited again with Harry and the rest of the group.