Rambling Through the Woods 1
Chapter 1 - Unexpected things
Pansy cursed Draco as she wandered through the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest; he kept pushing her away and she was getting tired of it. She knew that he had something to do for the Dark Lord, but didn’t he see that she could help him? He didn’t have to do it all on his own and maybe then he would have time to actually spend with her. Oh, it wasn’t about the romance, she honestly didn’t even really like Draco, but how could she be the Queen of Slytherin if the King never acknowledged her?
Then again, Draco really hadn’t been keeping court lately; maybe she could steal the court away from him? Still, “That stubborn git is ruining everything,” Pansy muttered.
“That’s because he has an Emuleth after him, it’s making him cranky,” a voice called out, dreamy and light. Pansy turned around and scowled at the fifth year Ravenclaw.
“Loony, what are you doing out here?” Pansy demanded. “Surely you’re not spying on me?
“I wasn’t spying on you and don’t call me Shirley,” Luna answered. She smiled at Pansy, “I’m on my way to visit someone.”
“In the Forbidden Forest?” Pansy raised her eyebrow.
Luna shrugged. “It’s as good a place as any. Would you care to walk with me?”
“Why would I want to walk with you?” Pansy sneered at the girl. She was there to vent about Draco and she wasn’t about to do that in front of anyone, let alone a crazy Ravenclaw.
“Because it’s dangerous out here and it’s safer in numbers,” Luna pointed out.
Pansy scoffed. “If it’s so dangerous, then what are you doing out here for? Besides, I can take care of myself.”
Luna opened her mouth, probably to make some inane comment or another, when a growl rumbled through the clearing. Pansy froze and stared over Luna’s shoulder at the large wolf standing at the edge of the clearing. “Loony, don’t move.”
So, of course, Luna calmly turned around to look at the large wolf. “That’s a werewolf.”
“It’s daytime, that can’t be a werewolf,” Pansy hissed back, wondering how the blonde could be so relaxed.
Luna tilted her head. “It looks like a werewolf to me, with the grey birdies and everything. Maybe the full moon came up early?”
“It doesn’t work that way.” Pansy lightly shook her head, deciding to focus on the more pressing problem. “We have to get away, but we can’t run or it will attack.”
Luna was fumbling with something in her pocket. Pansy’s eyes widened as Luna lay down a whole ferret before backing up until she reached Pansy. The Slytherin sixth year grabbed a hold of Luna’s arm and pulled on it as she started to back away from the clearing. “That should distract him, the birdies are looking at the food,” Luna quietly said as they entered the trees.
The werewolf still hadn’t moved, watching them with bright golden eyes. Pansy honestly doubted that the werewolf would go for a small ferret instead of two young women, but she wasn’t going to argue with Luna just yet; maybe in the afterworld. “We need to be a distance away before we can start to run,” Pansy whispered back. She was fairly sure that Loony wouldn’t run, but who really knew what the blond would do.
“Engorgio,” Luna whispered, pointing her wand at the ferret. The animal grew several sizes bigger and the werewolf finally focused its eyes on the ferret.
Pansy took a chance and whirled around. She snagged Luna’s hand and pulled her along as she made her way deeper into the forest. They weren’t running, they couldn’t run just yet, but they were practically jogging in their attempts to get away from the werewolf. She heard the sound of ripping flesh and she knew that the werewolf would be occupied for a short time, at the least.
They started running when they were several meters away from the clearing. Unfortunately, they were running deeper into the Forbidden forest instead of over to Hogwarts, but that couldn’t be helped. The werewolf had been closer to Hogwarts than they had been and getting away from the werewolf had been the priority. Besides, they needed the coverage that the denser parts of the woods had instead of the free space near Hogwarts. A werewolf could get at them easier if it didn’t have to dodge trees.
To Pansy’s surprise, Luna kept up with her speed after they started running. The blonde Ravenclaw had no trouble with letting Pansy lead, either. Pansy knew enough about dark creatures to avoid the worst of them in the forest; she veered off whenever she realized that they were close to recent tracks. Finally, just as they started tripping over things, she decided that they had probably lost the werewolf.
They came to a stop inside a tight copse of trees, surrounded by even more trees. It was the perfect place to take a break, a place that they could defend. “We’re dead,” Pansy said as soon as she caught her breath. “There’s no way that we can make it back to Hogwarts alive; we’re dead.”
“We’re still breathing and the werewolf won’t know where to find us if we keep moving,” Luna pointed out. “The little birdies can’t see us.”
“What is with you and those little birdies?” Pansy snapped before she could stop herself. She finally let go of Luna’s hand, halfway wondering why the Ravenclaw hadn’t protested beforehand, and threw her arms up in the air. “Of course the werewolf won’t find us; I have no idea where we are, I wouldn’t even be able to find us if I needed to.”
“Of course you would be able to; you can always find yourself when you are lost, it just takes a bit of looking,” Luna replied.
“Well good luck looking,” Pansy huffed.
“I don’t need to look,” Luna replied, “I know just where we are.”
“Really?” Pansy perked up; Luna was crazy enough that it was fairly believable that the girl actually knew the way around the Forbidden Forest.
“We’re right here, inside this shelter of trees.” Luna patted Pansy on her shoulder when the Slytherin girl deflated in slight disappointment. “Don’t worry, we’re perfectly safe and we can get back to Hogwarts with barely any trouble at all.”
“How?” Pansy demanded. “Face it, we’re dead.”
“We just have to walk back to the Castle and the Forbidden Forest isn’t that bad, really.” Luna twirled some of her bangs around with her wand. “If you avoid the spiders, blood sucking bugbears, and werewolves, that is. The Bowtruckles, Thestrals, and Gytrash aren’t so bad.”
“We’re dead,” Pansy repeated, blinking her eyes.
“The Forbidden Forest is a wonderful place; come on, I’ll show you.” Luna smiled at Pansy and took her hand. Pansy was surprised to find that Luna was fairly strong and managed to drag her out of the copse of trees.
“We’re dead anyway,” Pansy signed to herself as she finally started following alongside Luna. If they were going to die anyway, then she might as well let the Loony girl show her around. Luna expertly made her way around the forest; she looked like she was simply meandering along even as she ducked around the sharp branches that were in their way. Pansy sighed and let the girl lead, although she was starting to get nervous again.
This time her nervousness wasn’t about the animals that were going to eat them; this was because it was starting to darken in the forest. Death would come quicker in the darkness, when more of the beasts came out to find food. The worst part was that they wouldn’t even get that much of a warning before they were attacked, Pansy decided.
“It’s getting dark,” Luna commented when they paused for a minute to catch their breath.
“I can see that,” Pansy snapped back.
“We’re almost there.” Luna gave Pansy another smile before she started walking again. Pansy halfway considered pulling her hand away from the Ravenclaw and wait for the creature to come for her. But, she was a Slytherin and Slytherins never gave up; they also never acted on plans if someone else was already providing the plan for them.
It steadily got darker with every step that they took, although Pansy suspected that part of it was the dense mess of branches above their heads. She was startled when she saw a soft glow up ahead. It didn’t look like it was from a fire or any source of light she had ever seen; rather it was a soft, diffused blue light that was shining through the trees. “What’s that?” Pansy asked Luna, dragging her feet slightly.
“Come see,” Luna urged, speeding up just a bit.
They approached the trees near the glow and Pansy gasped as soon as she saw the clearing behind the trees. What seemed like hundreds of unicorns were all clustered in the clearing. Some were roaming around, but most of them were resting. For a moment Pansy thought that the light came from the full moon, but she glanced up at the sky and found that it was pitch black. There was still light in the clearing though, and she realized that it came from the unicorns.
“Unicorns glow in the dark during the new moon,” Luna whispered. She tugged Pansy into the clearing, past the first sleeping unicorn and then let go of the Slytherin’s hand to dart deeper into the glory of unicorns. She seemed to be dancing, twirling through the glow put off by the unicorns.
Pansy blinked at the sight before traveling deeper into the glory of unicorns herself. She met up with Luna somewhere in the middle of the clearing and Luna once again took her hand. “This way,” Luna whispered as she led Pansy over to where the golden foals slept. “They protect their foals, so they will protect us if we stay here for the night.”
“You really are crazy,” Pansy said, staring at the blond even as she sunk down to the ground.
Luna laughed, clear and bright, as she curled up on the ground next to a foal. Pansy shook her head, but settled down next to the Ravenclaw. She could tell that Luna fell asleep right away, but Pansy stayed awake, staring at the swirling light coming off of the unicorns.
She couldn’t believe that this had happened; all she wanted was a moment alone to curse out her boyfriend and instead she found herself lost in the middle of the Forbidden Forest with the one person she had least expected. She had been so sure that they were going to die, and she still thought that was the logical conclusion, but they had found shelter for the night. It was possible that they would make it out of the forest alive, Pansy mused, already half asleep, after all, the blonde hung out with Harry Potter: Boy Impossible. Maybe some of that luck rubbed off onto Luna and they could use that to find their way home. And then Pansy was going to beat Draco up for getting them into this in the first place.
Chapter 2
Pansy cursed Draco as she wandered through the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest; he kept pushing her away and she was getting tired of it. She knew that he had something to do for the Dark Lord, but didn’t he see that she could help him? He didn’t have to do it all on his own and maybe then he would have time to actually spend with her. Oh, it wasn’t about the romance, she honestly didn’t even really like Draco, but how could she be the Queen of Slytherin if the King never acknowledged her?
Then again, Draco really hadn’t been keeping court lately; maybe she could steal the court away from him? Still, “That stubborn git is ruining everything,” Pansy muttered.
“That’s because he has an Emuleth after him, it’s making him cranky,” a voice called out, dreamy and light. Pansy turned around and scowled at the fifth year Ravenclaw.
“Loony, what are you doing out here?” Pansy demanded. “Surely you’re not spying on me?
“I wasn’t spying on you and don’t call me Shirley,” Luna answered. She smiled at Pansy, “I’m on my way to visit someone.”
“In the Forbidden Forest?” Pansy raised her eyebrow.
Luna shrugged. “It’s as good a place as any. Would you care to walk with me?”
“Why would I want to walk with you?” Pansy sneered at the girl. She was there to vent about Draco and she wasn’t about to do that in front of anyone, let alone a crazy Ravenclaw.
“Because it’s dangerous out here and it’s safer in numbers,” Luna pointed out.
Pansy scoffed. “If it’s so dangerous, then what are you doing out here for? Besides, I can take care of myself.”
Luna opened her mouth, probably to make some inane comment or another, when a growl rumbled through the clearing. Pansy froze and stared over Luna’s shoulder at the large wolf standing at the edge of the clearing. “Loony, don’t move.”
So, of course, Luna calmly turned around to look at the large wolf. “That’s a werewolf.”
“It’s daytime, that can’t be a werewolf,” Pansy hissed back, wondering how the blonde could be so relaxed.
Luna tilted her head. “It looks like a werewolf to me, with the grey birdies and everything. Maybe the full moon came up early?”
“It doesn’t work that way.” Pansy lightly shook her head, deciding to focus on the more pressing problem. “We have to get away, but we can’t run or it will attack.”
Luna was fumbling with something in her pocket. Pansy’s eyes widened as Luna lay down a whole ferret before backing up until she reached Pansy. The Slytherin sixth year grabbed a hold of Luna’s arm and pulled on it as she started to back away from the clearing. “That should distract him, the birdies are looking at the food,” Luna quietly said as they entered the trees.
The werewolf still hadn’t moved, watching them with bright golden eyes. Pansy honestly doubted that the werewolf would go for a small ferret instead of two young women, but she wasn’t going to argue with Luna just yet; maybe in the afterworld. “We need to be a distance away before we can start to run,” Pansy whispered back. She was fairly sure that Loony wouldn’t run, but who really knew what the blond would do.
“Engorgio,” Luna whispered, pointing her wand at the ferret. The animal grew several sizes bigger and the werewolf finally focused its eyes on the ferret.
Pansy took a chance and whirled around. She snagged Luna’s hand and pulled her along as she made her way deeper into the forest. They weren’t running, they couldn’t run just yet, but they were practically jogging in their attempts to get away from the werewolf. She heard the sound of ripping flesh and she knew that the werewolf would be occupied for a short time, at the least.
They started running when they were several meters away from the clearing. Unfortunately, they were running deeper into the Forbidden forest instead of over to Hogwarts, but that couldn’t be helped. The werewolf had been closer to Hogwarts than they had been and getting away from the werewolf had been the priority. Besides, they needed the coverage that the denser parts of the woods had instead of the free space near Hogwarts. A werewolf could get at them easier if it didn’t have to dodge trees.
To Pansy’s surprise, Luna kept up with her speed after they started running. The blonde Ravenclaw had no trouble with letting Pansy lead, either. Pansy knew enough about dark creatures to avoid the worst of them in the forest; she veered off whenever she realized that they were close to recent tracks. Finally, just as they started tripping over things, she decided that they had probably lost the werewolf.
They came to a stop inside a tight copse of trees, surrounded by even more trees. It was the perfect place to take a break, a place that they could defend. “We’re dead,” Pansy said as soon as she caught her breath. “There’s no way that we can make it back to Hogwarts alive; we’re dead.”
“We’re still breathing and the werewolf won’t know where to find us if we keep moving,” Luna pointed out. “The little birdies can’t see us.”
“What is with you and those little birdies?” Pansy snapped before she could stop herself. She finally let go of Luna’s hand, halfway wondering why the Ravenclaw hadn’t protested beforehand, and threw her arms up in the air. “Of course the werewolf won’t find us; I have no idea where we are, I wouldn’t even be able to find us if I needed to.”
“Of course you would be able to; you can always find yourself when you are lost, it just takes a bit of looking,” Luna replied.
“Well good luck looking,” Pansy huffed.
“I don’t need to look,” Luna replied, “I know just where we are.”
“Really?” Pansy perked up; Luna was crazy enough that it was fairly believable that the girl actually knew the way around the Forbidden Forest.
“We’re right here, inside this shelter of trees.” Luna patted Pansy on her shoulder when the Slytherin girl deflated in slight disappointment. “Don’t worry, we’re perfectly safe and we can get back to Hogwarts with barely any trouble at all.”
“How?” Pansy demanded. “Face it, we’re dead.”
“We just have to walk back to the Castle and the Forbidden Forest isn’t that bad, really.” Luna twirled some of her bangs around with her wand. “If you avoid the spiders, blood sucking bugbears, and werewolves, that is. The Bowtruckles, Thestrals, and Gytrash aren’t so bad.”
“We’re dead,” Pansy repeated, blinking her eyes.
“The Forbidden Forest is a wonderful place; come on, I’ll show you.” Luna smiled at Pansy and took her hand. Pansy was surprised to find that Luna was fairly strong and managed to drag her out of the copse of trees.
“We’re dead anyway,” Pansy signed to herself as she finally started following alongside Luna. If they were going to die anyway, then she might as well let the Loony girl show her around. Luna expertly made her way around the forest; she looked like she was simply meandering along even as she ducked around the sharp branches that were in their way. Pansy sighed and let the girl lead, although she was starting to get nervous again.
This time her nervousness wasn’t about the animals that were going to eat them; this was because it was starting to darken in the forest. Death would come quicker in the darkness, when more of the beasts came out to find food. The worst part was that they wouldn’t even get that much of a warning before they were attacked, Pansy decided.
“It’s getting dark,” Luna commented when they paused for a minute to catch their breath.
“I can see that,” Pansy snapped back.
“We’re almost there.” Luna gave Pansy another smile before she started walking again. Pansy halfway considered pulling her hand away from the Ravenclaw and wait for the creature to come for her. But, she was a Slytherin and Slytherins never gave up; they also never acted on plans if someone else was already providing the plan for them.
It steadily got darker with every step that they took, although Pansy suspected that part of it was the dense mess of branches above their heads. She was startled when she saw a soft glow up ahead. It didn’t look like it was from a fire or any source of light she had ever seen; rather it was a soft, diffused blue light that was shining through the trees. “What’s that?” Pansy asked Luna, dragging her feet slightly.
“Come see,” Luna urged, speeding up just a bit.
They approached the trees near the glow and Pansy gasped as soon as she saw the clearing behind the trees. What seemed like hundreds of unicorns were all clustered in the clearing. Some were roaming around, but most of them were resting. For a moment Pansy thought that the light came from the full moon, but she glanced up at the sky and found that it was pitch black. There was still light in the clearing though, and she realized that it came from the unicorns.
“Unicorns glow in the dark during the new moon,” Luna whispered. She tugged Pansy into the clearing, past the first sleeping unicorn and then let go of the Slytherin’s hand to dart deeper into the glory of unicorns. She seemed to be dancing, twirling through the glow put off by the unicorns.
Pansy blinked at the sight before traveling deeper into the glory of unicorns herself. She met up with Luna somewhere in the middle of the clearing and Luna once again took her hand. “This way,” Luna whispered as she led Pansy over to where the golden foals slept. “They protect their foals, so they will protect us if we stay here for the night.”
“You really are crazy,” Pansy said, staring at the blond even as she sunk down to the ground.
Luna laughed, clear and bright, as she curled up on the ground next to a foal. Pansy shook her head, but settled down next to the Ravenclaw. She could tell that Luna fell asleep right away, but Pansy stayed awake, staring at the swirling light coming off of the unicorns.
She couldn’t believe that this had happened; all she wanted was a moment alone to curse out her boyfriend and instead she found herself lost in the middle of the Forbidden Forest with the one person she had least expected. She had been so sure that they were going to die, and she still thought that was the logical conclusion, but they had found shelter for the night. It was possible that they would make it out of the forest alive, Pansy mused, already half asleep, after all, the blonde hung out with Harry Potter: Boy Impossible. Maybe some of that luck rubbed off onto Luna and they could use that to find their way home. And then Pansy was going to beat Draco up for getting them into this in the first place.
Chapter 2