Caroline's POV

A harsh banging sounded at my dormitory's door, waking me up from a peaceful slumber. I groaned and pulled the pillow over my ears, shutting out the noise momentarily before I heard the door fling open and felt someone shaking my shoulder roughly.

"Wake up! Caroline, get up!"

"Mmumph," I mumbled, rolling over and swatting the person's hand away. It sounded like a boy, but I couldn't be sure. With a few people in Slytherin, it could be hard to tell... Take Millicent Bulstrode for example. She sounds like a guy and has a stocky build, but has slight feminine qualities. And I do mean slight.

"GET UP!" The person bellowed, and there was no doubt in my mind that this was a boy. I flung off my sheets and blankets and glared at none other than Draco Malfoy, my fellow prefect. I was sure everyone in my dorm was awake, but they wouldn't come out. Least of all Pansy Parkinson, who was probably listening to Draco's and my conversation from behind her bed curtains.

"What do you want Malfoy?" I hissed, flicking my shoulder length red hair out of my eyes.

"The prefects are to report to Dumbledore's office... Something's happened to a first year and the Professors need all the help they can get." Draco responded, and I heard shuffling in the bed next to me. It was probably Parkinson... She's been jealous of me ever since I beat her for the roll of prefect.

"Fine," I said, shoving my feet over the side of the bed and standing up, stretching a little.

Draco stood near the door, watching me. I glared at him and shooed him out, latching the door behind him. I walked over to my trunk and pulled out jeans and an emerald green t-shirt. After I had put them on I yanked my robes over them and laced up my green and grey running trainers. I placed my wand in one of the concealed pockets of my robe and crossed the floor of my dormitory. I unlatched the door, walked down the hall and met Draco in the common room.

We stepped out of the stone wall and made our way up to the Headmaster's office. Draco seemed restless and on edge, but I didn't say anything. If he didn't want to talk to me, then so be it.

We walked along the corridors for several minutes before we bumped into a Hufflepuff prefect, of whom I forgot his name.

"Change of plans. We're meeting in the Great Hall." He said, and ran off. Draco and I looked at each other, shrugged, and followed quickly.

Tonight was going to be a long night.

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Emily's POV

I sat by the Gryffindor common room's fire, scribbling away at my Transfiguration homework. Sure, O.W.L.'s weren't for another two weeks or so, but I still wanted to be ready.

A sudden banging startled me, and I jerked my head up to see Ron barreling down the stairs, fully dressed in his robes. I raised an eyebrow as he skidded to a stop right in front of my chair.

"Emergency... Just got an owl... From McGonagall... Great Hall... Gotta go...."

I raised my hand and stood up, setting aside my homework and flicking my long, light brown hair out of my eyes. "Wait, slow down a little. You got an owl from McGonagall, in the middle of the night, telling you to meet her in the Great Hall?"

Ron shook his head, then nodded it, as if he couldn't decide what I had said was correct or not. "Yes, I mean no. I mean... Partially. Geez Emily, don't make me think so much in the middle of the night!" He shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut and making me smile.

"McGonagall wants all the prefects to meet her and the other professors in the Great Hall, something about a first year gone missing and the teachers needing all the help they can get."

I nodded and slung my bag over my shoulder. "Let me drop this stuff off upstairs and pull on my robes, I'll meet you here in a minute."

Ron nodded and I sprinted up the stairs to the girls dormitories. I slowly opened the creaky door to the room I shared with the Patil twins and Lavender Brown. I secretly hated each one of them, especially Lavender. They were all so ditzy... Sometimes I didn't know how they managed to stay upright.

I crossed the floor to where my trunk sat at the foot of my bed. I pulled my robes out of my trunk and slipped them on over my red hoodie and jeans. My red and black trainers were already on, and I slipped my wand into my back pocket of my jeans for good measure. I tiptoed out of my dormitory and down to the common room, where Ron was twirling his wand in his fingers absently.

"Ready?" he asked, stuffing his wand in his pocket.

"Ready." I confirmed, and we walked out of the portrait hole and began the trek down to the Great Hall.

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Everyone's POV

When Caroline and Draco arrived at the Great Hall, so did Emily and Ron. The two pairs of prefects remained indifferent to each other, but the two girls noticed the boys exchanging dirty looks.

Emily and Caroline hung back as Draco and Ron marched through the door. The girls exchanged amused looks and followed after them, finding themselves standing next to the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw prefects. Professor McGonnagal was speaking, addressing each pair of prefects in turn.

"I'll need Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw to stay and search the castle," she said, walking in front of the designated prefects. "As for Gryffindor and Slytherin, you will be inspecting the grounds. Under no circumstances are you to enter the Forest. Am I understood?"

Ron and Draco nodded, but Caroline and Emily exchanged a knowing look, crossed their fingers behind their backs, and said in unison, "Yes, Professor."

McGonnagal, not seeing their motions, nodded and moved away from the prefects and began to speak with the other teachers. Taking this as their que to leave, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw walked out of the Great Hall, closely followed by Slytherin and Gryffindor. When the eight prefects reached the hallway, they wished each other luck and parted ways. Draco, Ron, Caroline, and Emily headed for the front doors while the other four headed in the opposite direction; deeper into the castle.

"So where d'you reckon we start first?" Ron asked as they walked out into the light of the full moon.

"The Forest." Emily and Caroline stated bluntly.

Ron stopped in his tracks and turned around to face Emily, his mouth agape. Draco narrowed his eyes at Caroline.

"There is no way we're going back in there." Draco said firmly, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Why? So you don't have to scream like a little girl in front of us?" Emily countered, placing a hand on her hip.
Caroline let out a short sound of laughter, but covered it up by coughing when Draco glared at her. Ron was still aghast, looking from Caroline, to Draco, to Emily. He seemed, for once, lost for words.

Draco narrowed his eyes at Emily. "There's a full moon tonight. You do know what that means, don't you? Going into the Forest could mean certain death!" He cried, gesturing to the sky, where the moon was at its peak.

Of course, they all knew that. But this was the possible life of a first year they were talking about, and the girls weren't about to ignore that.

"Listen, if you two don't want to come, we won't force you. You can search the nice, safe grounds, while Emily and I walk quite possibly to our deaths in the Forest, okay?" Caroline said, raising her voice a few octaves and making it sound as if she were speaking to a four year old.

Draco and Ron both folded their arms and shook their heads firmly. Emily and Caroline nodded decisively and turned on their heels, marching across the grounds and down to Hagrid's hut, where they were planning to enter the Forbidden Forest.

Ron sighed dejectedly but followed at a jog, leaving Draco in the dust.

"Hurry up Malfoy, we wouldn't want a girl to beat you, now would we?" Ron called over his shoulder. Draco rolled his eyes and walked after them, but stayed far enough behind so that if anything jumped out, he'd be the last to know and the first to run.

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Caroline's POV

I walked alongside Emily in silence until we reached Hagrid's place. His windows were dark; I guessed he was out looking for the first year along with everyone else.

Suddenly Emily came to a halt, just before she stepped into the woods. She stopped abruptly enough that I bumped into her, causing her to stumble forward a few steps.

"Watch it!" I whisper-yelled, grabbing her arm to keep her from stumbling. Emily straightened up and turned to me, a sheepish look on her face.

"Sorry." She mumbled. "I just figured we should leave our robes here. They'll get snagged on twigs pretty easily in there."

I nodded and we pulled off our robes, leaving them in a pile on Hagrid's doorstep. I retrieved my wand from my robe pocket and stowed it in my wand sheath that I kept strapped to my side. Emily smirked.

"You know, I really should invest in one of those."

I shook my head and shivered a little as the warm, late-spring breeze hit my skin.

"You cold?" Emily asked incredulously. "'Cause I think it's pretty warm out here."

"I'm not cold." I said quietly. "Something just doesn't feel right about tonight."

Emily nodded. "I understand. It just feels like something foul is about to happen. I don't know what, though."

I nodded and looked to the Forest, hugging my arms around myself. Just then, Draco and Ron decided to show up. They discarded their robes in the same place Emily and I had thrown ours, and we all walked as a group over to the entrance to the Forest. Emily brought out her wand and I pulled out mine.

"Lumos," we commanded, and the tips of our wands illuminated the skinny, twisting path before us. Emily shot me a nervous glance, and I put on my poker face; I didn't want to seem weak to everyone else.

"Let's go." I said, and started forward with Emily, Ron, and finally Draco, behind me.

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Emily's POV

I walked just behind Caroline, my wand held in front of me to illuminate my path. The full moon was covered by clouds, thus making the Forest even darker than it normally was. I heard Ron jump at every twig that cracked; every hoot of an owl. At some point Draco snapped a twig next to Ron's ear, and he jumped, emitting a slight squeak as he whirled around. Caroline and I drew our wands and ended up brandishing them in Malfoy's face, which he wasn't too happy about.

We walked on in this way; single file, wands held aloft, jumping at every noise. After ten minutes of this fashion, a howl sounded just to the left of the path. I shivered; this howl sounded ethereal... Unnatural. All four of us stopped in our tracks and turned towards the howl.

"You don't suppose that was a... A...." Ron broke off, his face paling so much his freckles stood out like marker splotches.

"Werewolf?" I finished, turning to look at him. "Yes. Yes I do."

I looked over at Caroline, who had on quite possibly the best poker face I had ever seen. "You think we should go over there?"

She nodded. That was all the consent I needed, and the two of us strayed from the trail, in the direction of the creature. Ron and Draco exchanged worried glances and followed, wands gripped tightly.

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Everyone's POV

A shrill scream sliced through the air, penetrating the eerie silence that had fallen around the four prefects. They stopped for a moment, and as if on silent command they tore off through the trees, attempting to ignore the howls punctuating the silence following the scream.

Suddenly Draco grasped Caroline's wrist and yanked her to a stop. Ron and Emily, sensing their comrades were not behind them, skidded to a halt yards away from the Slytherin prefects.

"What's the big idea Malfoy? That first year could be dead by now!" Ron exclaimed, and Emily nodded, a fierce look in her blue eyes.

Caroline mirrored Emily's look in her own blue orbs and glared at Draco. "Let... Me... Go!" she cried, wriggling in his grasp. Draco's grey eyes narrowed as he maintained his grip on Caroline.

"Even if this first year is still alive, how are we going to fight the werewolf?" he reasoned, finally releasing Caroline's wrist. She rubbed it and stepped away from Draco, turning to Emily and completely ignoring the boys.

"He has a point." She said, keeping her voice low. "What's the plan?"

Emily bit her lip and frowned, deep in thought. Suddenly her head snapped up. "You can produce the Serpent curse, right?"

"Yeah," Caroline agreed half-heartedly. "But they only paralyze, they don't kill."

Waving off the fact that Caroline knew they didn't kill, Emily grinned. "That's all we need. We don't want to kill the werewolf, who knows who he really is. Paralyzing it would be our best option. That way we could all make it back to Hogwarts before it can chase after us."

Caroline thought about this plan for a minute, running her fingers through her hair. "I suppose it'd work. But what if the first year's been bitten? What do we do then?"

Emily rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "We don't know if the scream even came from the first year. If he has been bitten, we'll still take him back to the school. Madam Pomfrey will know what to do."

Caroline nodded, and the two girls turned to Draco and Ron, who were facing away from each other in disgust.

"We already know what you're going to say," Ron started off, facing Caroline.

"And we know you're not going to let us leave anyway," Draco continued, glaring at Emily.

"So we're in." Ron finished, not even looking at Malfoy.

"Not that you had much of a choice," Caroline muttered. Suddenly another shrill scream impaled the silence of the Forest, causing everyone to jump. Emily and Caroline exchanged glances, shrugged, and tore off through the underbrush. Ron groaned and followed closely, while Draco rolled his eyes and ran after them against his better judgement.

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Crashing through the trees, the four prefects suddenly skidded to a halt just outside a circular clearing. The moon was now peaking out from behind the clouds, casting eerie shadows over the grassy ground.

Emily suddenly gasped and gripped Caroline's arm, pointing across the clearing to where a large, shadowy figure on four legs was dragging a smaller shadow in its teeth. The larger creature let out a long, piercing howl, causing goosebumps to creep up the girls' arms and the hair on the back of their necks to prickle.

Suddenly, the monster turned its head in the direction of the prefects and slowly advanced on them, snarling.

Caroline pulled Emily away and the two darted behind a thick tree, breathing heavily.

"Draco and I will distract it. You and Ron grab the first year. We'll be right behind you." Caroline whispered to Emily, and the brunette nodded, concealing her terror with a carefully placed poker face. Caroline did the same and suddenly darted to another nearby tree, where Draco and Ron were hidden. Ron peeped his head around the tree, checking to see whether the coast was clear or not, then tip-toed over to Emily's tree.

"Caroline's just told Malfoy and I the plan. We'll be ready to go out in just a...."

A sudden shout cut him off, causing both the Gryffindors to poke their heads around the tree to watch the clearing.

"Oy, you filthy half-breed! Over here!" Draco shouted, waving his arms like a maniac. Emily and Ron were shocked.

"I always thought he was a spineless git," Emily muttered in disbelief, but shook her head as Draco suddenly took off running into the Forest, the werewolf snarling and tearing after him.

"You spoke too soon." Ron murmured, and watched as Caroline stood, waiting for just the right moment to cast her spell.

Just as the creature took a few bounds past her, Draco reached the edge of the clearing and disappeared into the trees. The werewolf wheeled around, barring its fangs at Caroline.

The redhead visibly gulped and pulled out her wand, pointing it at the ground in between herself and the monster before shouting, "Serpensortia!"

A long, poison green snake materialized on the ground before her, raising itself up and hissing at her. She directed her wand toward the werewolf, and the snake obeyed, turning and slithering over the grass and to the front paws of the beast. Hissing and spitting, the massive snake sank its fangs into the werewolf's right front leg, causing the monster to howl in pain. Taking this as their que, Ron and Emily quickly darted out of the safety of the Forest and into the clearing, where they sprinted to the first year. It was a young Hufflepuff boy, with sandy colored hair and brown eyes. He sat up and stared fearfully at the werewolf, which was now lying on the ground passed out. His robes were tattered and scratches lined his body, but he didn't seem to have been bitten.

"It's okay," Ron said, kneeling down. "We're here to help you." Emily nodded in agreement and the first year smiled shakily.

"Lets get you back to school." Emily said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. He nodded and gripped her arm, hoisting himself up.

"Can he walk?" Caroline called, tucking her wand back in its sheath and striding over to the three. The boy nodded and took a shaky step forward, but automatically fell to his knees.

"Guess not," he muttered, looking up at Ron. Ron grinned and extended a hand to him.

"He's in shock," Emily muttered to Caroline as Ron helped the boy stand again. The young Hufflepuff fell against Ron, clinging to his t-shirt.

"You'll have to carry him back, Ron." Caroline said, folding her arms across her chest. "I'd ask Draco to, but...."

"The coward's disappeared." Ron finished, growling. Caroline narrowed her eyes and sighed, letting her arms fall to her sides.

"It doesn't matter." Emily quickly said, her eyes flitting over the the beast lying knocked out on the ground. "What does matter is getting this kid back to Hogwarts where he can see Madam Pomfrey."

Ron nodded and knelt down, allowing the boy to clamber up onto his shoulders. Ron stood and began the trek across the clearing, with Emily and Caroline following close behind.

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Back at Hogwarts, Ron, Caroline and Emily made their way through the halls to the Hospital Wing, where they knew Madam Pomfrey would be waiting. No one had seen hide not hair of Draco since the werewolf had chased him into the woods, and Caroline was, quite frankly, pissed off.

"Where the hell did he go?" She demanded angrily as Emily opened the Hospital Wing's door for Ron. Madam Pomfrey was there in an instant, leading Ron off into a secluded section of the wing and peppering the boys with questions.

"I don't know." Emily sighed. "But when you get back to your common room, I bet he'll be there with his tail between his legs."

Caroline growled, clenching and unclenching her fists. "I hate to say it, but Weasley's right. Malfoy's a bloody spineless git."

Emily grinned and shook her head. "To be honest, no matter how spineless he is, we needed him there tonight. Who else could've been the decoy?"

Caroline nodded and started to laugh, Emily joining in. After a few moments they composed themselves, and Emily turned to Caroline.

"Just promise me one thing," she said, looking pointedly at her Slytherin friend.

"Anything." Caroline said, returning Emily's gaze solemnly.

"Give the spineless git a slap in the face for me, would you?" Emily laughed and Caroline grinned.

"You bet."

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A/N

Hiya! Guess what? I'M NOT DEAD! Gosh it feels like it's been forever since I've updated this book...

Heh heh... Sorry....

Anyways.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, I know it sucks, but it was kinda fun to write. I think Ron and Draco are a little out of character with each other, but hey, it works.

This chapter is dedicated to @Animalsandadjectives, I hope you liked it!!!

Vote. Comment. Share.

~Miluiel