Especially Our Enemies

My arm was throbbing angrily from Malfoy’s hold, but I followed Minerva and Hagrid into the trees. Sprout was behind us, and behind her several others. Flitwick had remained on the doorstep to Hagrid’s hut; he knew he couldn’t keep up.

“He’s in the thestral clearing,” Hagrid said.

Minerva shuddered. She hated thestrals.

I saw him before they did, and I ran forward despite myself. He was prone on the ground.

“It might be a trap,” Minerva called. I fell to my knees beside him.

Malfoy groaned when I touched him. At first I thought it was the moonlight, but I realized his skin was shockingly pallid. I rolled him onto his back.

“Well, he’s alive,” I said. They still kept their distance.

He didn’t appear injured, and after a moment he opened his eyes.

“Where am I?” he asked.

“The Forbidden Forest,” Minerva said.

He pushed me away and sat up.

“What the hell is going on?”

“We were hoping you could tell us that,” Minerva said.

He staggered to his feet and I let him lean on me.

“You look like you’ve been wrung out,” Hagrid said.

Malfoy pinched his lips together tightly and said nothing.

“We should get him back to the castle,” I said.

“I agree,” Minerva said, looking around. “We have much to discuss, and this is not the place to do it.”

I started to help Malfoy after her, but the world exploded into agonizing light. When I opened my eyes I was deep in the forest, the trees barely visible in the moonlight.

“You’re fucked,” Malfoy said softly from nearby.

“Now, now, Draco. That is such an indelicate way of putting it.”

The voice sent a shudder through me. There was something familiar about it that made my flesh crawl. I looked up at Draco. His color had begun to return. I tried to sit up, struggling against whatever bound my wrists behind me.

“Where are the others?” I asked.

“Safe,” the oily voice whispered. “More than I can say for you.”

Malfoy’s jaw clenched as the dark figure beside him extended a hand to stroke his cheek. I couldn’t tell what was in his eyes, but there was anger in the set of his mouth.

“Severus was not enough,” Malfoy said. “He needed some of me.”

“Some of you?” I asked.

“And all of you, I’m afraid,” the figure said, trailing its hand down Malfoy’s chest.

“You can have any one of them, Master,” Malfoy said softly. “He is weak. Perhaps another would be more suitable.”

The hand closed around the back of Malfoy’s neck and he stiffened.

“Oh, Draco, you silly boy. You thought I would not see?”

“How did you survive?” I asked, trying to distract him.

“In a way, I didn’t.” He turned and lifted his hood back, walking into a patch of moonlight so I would be sure to see. The face that smiled at me cruelly was one I knew almost as well as my own; Harry chuckled at my shock and turned away.

“No. I buried you myself,” I said.

“And that body is still there,” Harry said. “I just liked the look of it.”

“The Dark Lord is not without a sense of humor,” Malfoy said dryly.

“Malfoy,” I said, trying not to let the desperation I was feeling escape into my voice.

“He cannot help you,” Harry/Voldemort said.

Malfoy turned away and walked into the woods, leaving me on my knees.

“It won’t be very painful,” Voldemort whispered. He leaned close.

I heard a thunderous noise and fell back as a white flash passed between us, throwing Voldemort to the ground. I had never been gladder to see any creature as I was to see Hadrian at that moment. He charged Voldemort again, whinnying loudly. I scrabbled to my feet and ran headlong into the thick forest, hoping Voldemort was distracted enough to not follow me.

My sense of direction has never been particularly keen, and without Hagrid’s map or a wand to light my way I soon realized I was quite lost, running as best I could with my hands bound and the forest floor seeming to rise up in an attempt to ensnare me. After awhile I stopped to listen, and to slow down my heart. For a few minutes all I could hear was its pounding.

I looked up at the stars and sighed. I was probably going to die, I realized. But that thought had occurred to me many times throughout my life, so I ignored it. I looked around me for something sharp enough to cut the cords on my wrists. Eventually I found a remnant of one of the old fences and freed my hands. It made my flight much easier. I decided if I kept running I would eventually reach one of the borders of the forest, or perhaps encounter one of the Acromantulas and get eaten. The thought of meeting Aragog again made me a little queasy, but being recaptured by Voldemort was even less appealing.

“You’ll never get anywhere like that.” I had been picking my way through a particularly snarled area of the woods, and I stopped. Malfoy seemed to fade in from the trees.

“I can lead you out of here,” he said, offering his hand, with my wand in it. I took the wand but kept my distance.

“No thank you, Malfoy,” I said, resuming my movement. He kept apace easily.

“You’re heading deeper and deeper,” he said. “You’ll never make it out alive alone.”

“And I might not make it out alive with you,” I retorted sharply.

“It’s true, the Dark Lord has been interfering with my thoughts.” He shook his head. “After that unicorn attacked him, he fled the grounds. I don’t think he can manipulate me from so far away.”

“Pardon me if I don’t take your word for it.”

He grabbed my arm.

“Weasley.”

“What?” I demanded.

“Let me take you back to the castle. Then I’ll leave, and you won’t have to worry about me again.”

“Rejoining Voldemort?” I asked.

“Maybe.” He looked at me for a moment and then turned away. “Follow me.”

I did, despite my better judgment. He moved almost too quickly for me to keep up, and said nothing to me. After what seemed an interminable walk, we arrived at the edge of the trees.

“Weasley.”

“Malfoy,” I said uncertainly.

“I may not see you again.” He kissed me softly.

“Get out of here, Malfoy,” I said, but I ran a hand over his hair. A few strands came out in my fingers, and I held onto them as he walked back into the forest.

I could feel myself limping as I trudged to the castle. The other professors were in the great hall, arguing over whether to organize a search for me before dawn. I staggered into the room and they all fell instantly quiet.

“We was worried about you, Ron,” Hagrid said. Master of the obvious, I thought.

“We came back to the castle to regroup after you and Malfoy disappeared,” Minerva said. She came to me and looked me over. “What happened?”

“Malfoy is gone.” I sat down heavily; my body was protesting every movement now. “He went after Lord Voldemort.”

That drew a few gasps.

“I suppose at this point nothing should surprise me,” Minerva said, putting her hand to her forehead. “I’m going to put the school on lockdown and send an owl to the Ministry. There’s not much we can really do until morning anyway. We should all go and get some sleep. I want to see all of the Heads of House at six thirty tomorrow morning.”

I let Professor Sinistra help me to my quarters and I all but passed out in my bed, still fully dressed.

“So you’ve done it again,” Ginny whispered, taking my hand in the darkness. It took me a moment to realize it was a dream. “Cheated death.”

She kissed my cheek, and then she was gone.