The Other Side Of The Story
Chapter 17 - You-Know-Who And The Forbidden Forest

The morning came up faster than I ever thought and it was really hard getting Hermione out of bed and even harder convincing her to leave the common room

Once we made it to the great hall we saw how the other Gryfreplaceor's were passing the giant hour-glasses that recorded the house points, at first they thought there’d been a mistake. How could we suddenly have a hundred and fifty points fewer than yesterday? I couldn't blame them for being shocked

I don't know how But then the story started to spread: Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter, the hero of two Quidditch matches, had lost us all those points, him and a couple of other stupid first years at least that what I managed to hear before I snapped at the people who were talking and then had to run after Hermione who ran all the way back to the common room and cried her eyes out

I stayed beside her until she fell a sleep with wet tears on her chicks, it was the first time I ever saw her this broken and I hated it she was always the strong one

Anyway I decided to go check on Harry to see how he was doing, knowing that since he was the most well-known he would have it the hardest

And I was right as he turned from being one of the most popular and admired people at the school, he was suddenly the most hated

Even Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on him and even so they had their reasons seeing that everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the House Cup but they didn't have any right to be so hard to Harry, he was only trying to Help Hagrid

"Harry" I called when I finally managed to replace him he was walking through a hallway looking at the ground as people pointed and didn’t trouble to lower their voices as they insulted Him

"hey all of you why don't you keep your thoughts to yourselves and let him be" I yelled at everyone causing all their heads to snap in my direction surprised that someone was defending him , even Harry looked up surprised but he relaxed a little when his eyes landed on me and gave me thankful smile which I returned as I made my way to his side and walked beside him the silence still filling the hallway ever since I snapped at everyone, but that didn't stop their eyes from following our every move

"Thanks" Harry whispered as we walked side by side away from them

"what are friends for" I replied as I placed my arm around his shoulder and pulling him in a side hug causing him to laugh a little which was the first laugh I heard from ever since last night

"So how is Hermione taking it?" he asked getting serious again

"not really good , I managed to get her to leave the common room at first but once she stepped inside the great hall she ran all the way back and cried herself to sleep" I told him and he just nodded

"It's my entire fault I shouldn't have dragged her into this"

"no Harry don't say that we all knew what we were doing from the beginning we knew the risks and we were ready to take it, it not any bodies fault but Malfoy " I told him as I shook my head, he just nodded again even so he didn't seem convinced, so I just decided to let it go and we kept walking in silence to the great hall

Our silence was cut by the sound of clapping so I turned to see that it was none other than a couple of Slytherin who then started to whistle and cheer " Thanks Potter, we owe you one" one of them spoke with a smirk and I noticed How Harry just kept his eyes on the ground

"Why don't you just shut it and we would be even" I snapped at him

"Or what? Little girl, you are gone punch me?" he mocked me then turned to his friends chuckling, bad move bro

"Don't tempt me" I told him and he turned back to me smirking

"I would love to see you try" he spoke and I took a step towards him but was pulled back by Harry as he whispered "let's just go Alex, we don't need any more trouble" he had a point but again I was not someone who would back out from a fight until I made my point clear

"If I were you I would listen to him, Love" the boy smirked

"Well too bad you are not me" I said as I slipped out of Harry's grip and was making my way to that git

But suddenly was pulled away by someone tall and strong "what the bloody hell?" I yelled as I finally managed to see the person's face who was none other than Cedric!!

"He needed to be taught a lesson and I was about to give it to him" I snapped at him

"Then it's a good thing I showed up in time or you would have ended up in loads of trouble if you haven't noticed he had his friends around" he yelled at me as he tried to hold back his anger

"And what makes you think I needed someone to protect me I can take care of myself" I yelled back

"Maybe if you didn't manage to always get in trouble somehow I wouldn't have had to look out for you"

"I think it's better if I just go now" Harry said as he went back inside the school and it was only then that I noticed we were in the courtyard

"Look I'm sorry Alex, I didn't really mean to yell at you but I was worried and when I saw how that boy was getting ready to a fight I was scared for you , cause you are like a sister I never had " he told me as his voice was now calmer and full of sorrow causing me to calm down too

"I know and I'm sorry too okay I was just stressed with everything happening especially with how everyone was treating Harry, Hermione and Neville , they got on my nerves" I replied as I stared at my feet

"I can't believe it, is the Alex Miller actually apologizing for something she did" he joked as he pretended to be surprised

"Well don't get used to it" I replied as I punched him on the shoulder causing him to chuckle and me to join in soon after

"I don't believe I can ever get used to it" this time it was my turn to laugh "neither can I" I added

And just like that our argument was over and as if it never happened

************

A couple more days passed and Harry was still treated the same way by almost everyone, only Ron and I stood up for him

Hermione and Neville were suffering, too. Also, They didn’t have it as bad a time as Harry, because they weren’t as well known, but nobody would speak to them either, Hermione even had stopped drawing attention to herself in class, she never raised her hand to answer any question and just kept her head down and worked in silence which just worried me even more

Bu t the good thing was that the exams weren’t far away, so maybe all the revision would help keep both her mind and Harry's off their misery

So through those days Harry, Ron and Hermione just kept to themselves, working late into the night, trying to remember the ingredients in complicated potions learn charms and spells off by heart, memorize the dates of magical discoveries and goblin rebellions …

As Harry’s new decision not to interfere in anything that didn’t concern him

As for me I stayed by their side for most of the time if not so , you would replace me with Cedric just hanging around and relaxing or you would catch me with the twins who were one of the hew people who weren't mean to Harry and Hermione

We would play a bit of Quidditch or pranked some of the slytherin who I hated so much

So we can say that those days weren't really that bad after all

Well at least not for me…

************

On one morning while we were having breakfast notes were delivered to 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.

Prof. M. McGonagall

We all had forgotten they still had detentions to do in addition to the points they’d lost

And i half expected Hermione to complain that this was a whole night of revision lost, but she didn’t say a word. Like Harry, she felt they deserved what they’d got.

So At eleven o’clock that night they said goodbye to Ron and I in the common room and went down to the entrance hall with Neville.

"What do you think he is going to do with them?" Ron asked as I stared behind them

"I have no idea, but with Filch you can expect anything, don't you think?" I told him as I let my mind think about all the possibilities

***************

It was now late and We have been waiting for them all this time, Ron managed to fall asleep but I just couldn't stop the bad feeling I had it was getting the best of me , seeing as my guts never failed me

Then suddenly the picture hole was opened and in came Harry Hermione and Neville so I quickly stood up and shook Ron awake who in return shouted something about Quidditch fouls

"So how did things go? Are you guys alright?" I asked them as we all sat back down except for Harry who kept pacing back and forth as he explained things "well we were taken with Hagrid to the forbidden forest, to go search for some creature that was killing the unicorns

"You were hunting a creature that could have killed in a matter of a seconds" Ron asked them with wide eyes but we all just shook our heads at him

"so anyway we split into two groups ,me , Hermione and Hagrid and Neville , Malfoy and Fangs" I almost forgot that it was that's brat fault they were caught but anyway what's done is done "at first we just kept searching but then Hagrid went to check on the others and left us on the path , when he was back we discovered the Malfoy was scaring Neville so we had to switch groups ,me going with Malfoy and Neville with Hagrid , we kept following the trial of blood ,we got deeper and deeper into

The Forest, until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick and the blood was getting thicker. There were splashes on the roots of a tree, as the poor creature had been thrashing around in pain close by I saw a clearing ahead, through the tangled branches of an ancient oak" he stopped for a second before he continued "and there it was the dead body of a unicorn , but it wasn't alone once I took one step towards it I heard a slithering sound made me freeze in my spot and then out of a bush in the edge of the clearing edge of the clearing a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast"

"The cloaked figure reached the unicorn,it lowered its head over the wound in the animal’s side, and began to drink its blood,Malfoy let out a terrible scream and bolted so did Fang and the hooded figure raised its head and looked right at unicorn

Blood was dribbling down its front. It got to its feet and came swiftly towards me, I couldn't move I was so scared" his voice trailed off as the color left his face, he was still shaking and so I did the only thing I could think of and shot out of my seat towards him and pulling him in a tight hug, which he was thankful for the support

once we pulled apart he went on put I made sure to keep a tight hold of his hand and let him squeeze it as tight as he needed

"Then a pain that I never felt before pierced my head, it was as though my scar was on fire, it caused me to step back as the figure kept coming for me , but suddenly it stopped , the figure but The pain in my head was so bad that It took a minute or two to pass. When I looked up, the figure had gone. And a centaur was standing over me He looked carefully at me, his eyes lingering on the scar"

"and that was went I got it" he said as he pulled his hand from mine "the thing that attacked me it was Voldemort that's why wants the stone, he wants it for Voldemort ... and Voldemort’s waiting in the Forest ... and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich ..." I looked at him in disbelief while Ron said in a terrified whisper " Stop saying the name!" as if he thought Voldemort could hear us

"you can't still be accusing Snape after everything" I snapped at him in disbelief but Harry wasn’t listening "Firenze saved me, but he shouldn’t have done ... Bane was furious... he was talking about interfering with what the planets say is going to happen ... They must show that Voldemort’s coming back ... Bane thinks Firenze should have let Voldemort kill me ... I suppose that’s written in the stars as well".

"Will you stop saying the name?" Ron hissed.

"So all I’ve got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone" Harry went on feverishly

"‘Then Voldemort will be able to come and finish me off ... Well, I suppose Bane will be happy"

"that's insane you guys should start using your brains for once and but two and two together if Snape was working for Voldemort and he wanted you dead don't you think he would of done it by now" I snapped and I noticed how Hermione looked very frightened, but she had a word of Comfort

"Harry, everyone says Dumbledore’s the only one you-Know- Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around, you-Know- Who won’t touch you. Anyway, who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune-telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says that’s a very imprecise branch of magic and Alex we still don't know who is helping You-know-who so we still can't cross anyone from the list" I just shook my head at them

"let's just head to bed , it's late and we need to rest"

And seeing as the sky had turned light before we stopped talking, we just

Went to bed exhausted, our throats sore. But I had a feeling that the night’s surprises weren’t over just yet…