Aurors

Draco peeked over his shoulder to look at the Aurors retreating back and a shock of worry went through him. He wondered what they were going to London for and hoped it was nothing that could put them in danger.

"Do not worry, Mr Malfoy. Auror Zabini might behave like a complete moron most of the time but he is perfectly capable of protecting Auror Blackmoore if something were to happen." The blond looked to the wizard walking next to him with his eyes glued to some reports on his hands.

"Who's going to protect Auror Zabini then?" The dark blond Auror looked up at him with a slight smirk.

"He is known for being a fast runner." Despite himself, Draco had to grin at the image of the older Zabini running away from a mad Auror Blackmoore. They were on their way to potions now and the blond was happy to have a subject he could keep his mind busy with for a few hours. He's had too much on his mind the last few days and had suddenly remembered that he had promised Potter to tell him what happened the day he had helped him find the Aurors. However, now that he knew everything he was unsure of how to formulate himself so that he didn't say too much. The promise he had made with Auror Silver was ringing clear in his mind and he knew that the other wizard would not hesitate to Obliviate him if he got the chance. Somehow, all his thinking had now gotten him to go into the Forbidden Forest with Potter after school on a Friday night. Not really the ideal way to spend it he thought to himself as he walked into the potion classroom and nodded to Professor Slughorn.

Auror Zouch gave him his wand and went to sit down at the designated chair in the back of the classroom. For once the blond didn't feel like sitting in the front and took a seat in the back which made the Professor look at him weirdly.

"Sitting in the back today, Mr Malfoy?" The blond nodded.

"If you don't mind, Sir." Slughorn waved his hand enthusiastically.

"Oh not at all my boy, and Auror Zouch, nice to have you in my class." Auror Zouch gave the Professor a polite smile before looking back down to his papers again. Draco had to hide a smirk as it was obvious that Slughorn was relieved to see that it wasn't Auror Silver that was here today as it always made him extremely uncomfortable.

Since they had come to class early the blond decided to prepare for the lesson and put his cauldron up and put on the heat. While waiting he took out his potion book and started to flip through it wondering what kind of potion they were going to make today. He hoped it would be a fairly simple one so nothing exploded. It was always a bother when the class had to evacuate the classroom for up to ten minutes at a time every class.

Finally, the rest of the eight years came into the classroom and Draco was expecting Blaise to sit down next to him but was confused when he sat down at the table in front of him with Nott by his side.

"Ignoring me now, Zabini?" The other Slytherin rolled his eyes.

"Don't be a moron, Malfoy. I'm just saving the seat next to you for someone else." Frowning, the blond looked around the classroom to see that Pansy had sat down in the middle with Millicent so there were no more Slytherins that could sit next to him. It was then the golden trio walked in the door and Granger and Weasley were quick to sit down at the front while Potter stood by the door looking a little confused.

"Hey, Hero! Saved you a seat right here!" The blond looked at Blaise with wide eyes as the other wizard pointed to the chair next to Draco. The wizard in question looked unsure for a second before he walked over to them.

"Can I sit here, Malfoy?" Their eyes met and there was something in the green eyes that the blond couldn't really place. He had seemed so cheery this morning before breakfast but now it looked like all the spirit had left the man. Draco nodded and pulled the chair out for him to sit.

"Go, ahead Potter." The sarcastic comment he was going to say died on his tongue as the ravenhead sat down heavily next to him. Potter looked defeated in the blond's eyes and he wondered what had happened at the Gryffindor table during breakfast.

"Now that everyone is here we are going to start today's lesson! This is an exciting day because I have gotten special permission from the Headmistress to teach you this potion as it is normally not in the school's curriculum." Everyone started mumbling excitedly as the blond took a peek over to the Auror in the corner who had lifted his head to look just as Slughorn turned the blackboard around.

"Let me present to you the Mopsus Potion! Does anyone here know what this does?" As it was not in the books none of the students raised their hands which made the Professor grin for once taking the students by surprise.

"Does our Auror in the back know it perhaps?" Everyone looked to Auror Zouch who frowned for a second before he smiled at them all.

"I am no Potion Master, Sir, but if my memory serves me that potion temporarily gives you the power of the Seers, correct?" Slughorn laughed excitedly.

"Correct! But it does more than that! It can even give you the power to manipulate objects with telekinesis, isn't that exciting? Of course, how well it works comes down to how well the potion is brewed and the power of the drinker, but this will surely be an interesting class to see if some of you can brew it well enough to test it out. Now everyone the instructions and ingredients are on the board so let's start." Draco had to admit that he was surprised the Professor had managed to convince McGonagall to let them make a potion that was not in the books.

Potter looked mostly confused at the blackboard and the blond only sighed at him. While the rest of the class went over to the ingredients cupboard the Slytherin stayed behind to give Potter a raised eyebrow.

"What's with you, Potter?" The ravenhead jumped when he was talked to and looked at Draco with wide eyes.

"Huh?" Rolling his eyes he waved his hand in front of his face.

"What's wrong with you?" Potter shook his head before softly grinning at him.

"Sorry, Malfoy. Just a lot on my mind. Should probably start the potion, huh?" The Slytherin watched as the Saviour got up from his seat went into the storage room and frowned. Something was wrong with the man and it made Draco tense up. He got up from his own seat and walked after him. The other students were already back at their desks at this point and it was only them inside the storage room. Potter was picking out the ingredients carefully but it was obvious his mind was somewhere else. Again, Draco frowned as he placed himself next to the other wizard.

"If you have changed your mind about helping us with the Patronus thing it's fine. I can talk to Auror Blackmoore for you if you don't want to tell her." To his surprise, the ravenhead turned to him with an angry expression.

"No! I want to help you. It's just that I…" Potter looked at the door and took a peek around before he took out his wand and cast a Muffliato around them.

"I saw something last night that I promised the Aurors not to tell anyone about but it's been eating at me the entire night. The reason I got detention with Burns today is because I distracted her from finding her office on the sixth floor because Silver and Zabini were in there trying to find something that affected Silver somehow. I also overheard Burns talking to some unknown wizard in some old office and they were talking about you and Blackmoore. Apparently, the coma she experienced was planned all along! They are also planning to take you somewhere but they haven't had the chance because the Aurors have been keeping an eye on you, and on top of it all Ginny is acting weird and she keeps accusing you of having Imperiused me! I just ca-" Draco took hold of the shorter wizard's shoulders and started to shake him lightly.

"Potter! Calm down, take a deep breath." The blond had never seen the ravenhead this way before and if he were honest with himself it scared him. He was usually collected in the most serious of times but it seemed even the mightiest of heroes had their breakdowns. The shorter wizard did as he was told and looked like he calmed down somewhat.

"Sorry, it all just came out at once." He grinned at Draco with the usual sheepish grin and the blonde breathed out a sigh of relief.

"I swear if you are lying to me right now…" The green eyes widened in shock.

"No! Why would I lie about something like this?" He had a point, of course, there was no reason for Potter to lie to him about something so serious and the blond had no choice but to believe him anyway. His mind started to go into overdrive as he picked apart what the Gryffindor had just told him. Burns was clearly not who they thought she was, although most of them knew she was not a good witch, to begin with, and that Auror Blackmoore ending up in that coma was planned so that somehow someone could kidnap him. Draco scowled as he thought about the last part the wizard had said.

"Why does She-Weasley think I have Imperioused you? I don't have a wand ninety per cent of the time." Potter looked uncomfortable for a second before he slowly answered.

"Well… You did have Madam Rosmerta under it for a year…" The blond grabbed the ingredients he needed off the shelves before turning around and marching back to his seat. Of course, what he did during the war was never going to be forgotten but to be constantly accused of doing this after the fact annoyed him to no end. He could tell the Auror was looking at him from behind his paperwork and shifted his gaze towards Potter when he walked guiltily towards their shared table. Thankfully, Auror Zouch never said anything in class unless he was spoken to first so he simply went back to whatever paperwork he was doing.

The hours flew by as Draco focused on his potion and tried his best to ignore the fact that his table partner was Potter. It was a few times the other wizard had asked him for help with something and the blond had answered him accordingly. It was stupid to be petty but at this point, the Slytherin couldn't care less, he still had his pride after all. Surprisingly, no one blew up their cauldrons this time even though this potion proved to be a more difficult one. Draco had no idea if it would even work correctly but at least it looked correct. Everyone put a sample on Slughorn's desk before they left the classroom.

The blond was about to high tail to the Great Hall for lunch as Blaise threw his arm around his shoulder.

"Did the lovers have a fight? You got so tense after leaving the storage room." Draco groaned as he shook his friend's arm off him.

"Hilarious. Nothing happened." It was obvious the other wizard didn't believe him as he gave him a raised eyebrow for an answer before clicking his tongue.

"Is it just me or does Potter seem all weird suddenly?"

"He was annoyingly happy at breakfast when he suddenly turned all mopey." Nott turned up on the blond's right like a ghost which made him jump slightly.

"Suddenly? Just like that?" The shorter Slytherin nodded.

"He was talking normally with the girl Weasley when his whole demeanour changed. It's weird, he doesn't seem to talk a lot with Granger or Weasley these days either." Both Blaise and him looked at Nott with questions on their faces as they walked. The Slytherin shrugged.

"I do pay some attention. Haven't you noticed it? Especially after the fight, Potter had with them in the Room of Requirement. He's been talking more to us than them recently." Draco thought about what Nott was saying and found himself realising that he was right. Potter had been talking to the Slytherins a lot the last few days. Usually, the golden trio was inseparable but after the little fight a few days ago he had rarely seen them together other than meals. This had to be looked into he thought and detention that night was the perfect place to ask.

~𓆗~

Draco was surprised to see Auror Blackmoore already sitting in the Great Hall sitting there already sipping what had to be a cup of coffee. She looked up at them as they all sat down and nodded at Auror Zouch who sat down next to her. The brunette looked fine but it was obvious she wasn't, with the aura of stress radiating off the woman. Before the blond got to say something to her Pansy sat down next to him.

"Auror Blackmoore! When are we going to start practising? Halloween is just over a week away and we have to start making the masks soon!" The Auror blinked confused for a few seconds before she realised what the young Slytherin was talking about.

"Right, well today is Friday so what about tomorrow afternoon?" Auror Zouch looked at her with interest but she ignored him. Pansy nodded enthusiastically before she turned to Draco.

"What happened in the storage room with Potter? Looked like you had a fight in there." The Auror's brown eyes were on him immediately and he tried to look away from the searing gaze.

"We just talked, nothing important." The witch looked at him with obvious intent that she did not believe him and looked to Blaise who only shrugged.

"How was London?" Auror Zouch had finally put down whatever he was reading and was looking at the brunette with an intense look. Obvious curiosity was shining in the sky-blue eyes. Auror Blackmoore shrugged.

"Boring." Draco frowned. The dark blond wizard looked her up and down before smirking.

"I hope Auror Zabini is not lying dead in a ditch somewhere?" The blond swore he saw her eyes flash golden for a second before she huffed.

"I wish, but no he stayed behind to talk to some of his colleagues." The Auror chuckled. Draco's eyes travelled over the brunette much like the older Slytherin had done but from what he could tell she was not hurt physically, but it was easy to see that she was tense and he got even more curious about what had happened while she was gone.

Someone kicked him in the leg under the table and he frowned in Nott's direction who smirked at him before pointing to something behind him. Turning around confused he soon spotted Potter sitting by himself at the end of the Gryffindor table. The man was picking his food while looking down at his plate. The blond scowled as his eyes scanned the rest of the Gryffindor table. All his friends were seated a little further up the table but all of them seemed to ignore the Saviour for whatever reason unless he was the one ignoring them.

"What is going on with our Hero?" Pansy had followed his eyes and had turned around to look.

"Seems like the other Gryffindorks are ignoring him." Draco got more confused as the seconds rolled by but before he had the chance to do something he jumped as a cup was put loudly down on the table.

The Slytherins watched in amazement as Auror Blackmoore got up from her seat and marched over to where Potter was sitting. The Great Hall held its breath as she stopped in front of him and crossed her arms. They talked for a few seconds before the witch glared down the rest of the table and everyone present seemed to shrink from her gaze. She then grabbed the ravenhead's arm forced him out of his seat and dragged him over to the Slytherin table only to make him sit down between Draco and Pansy. The wizard looked at everyone with wide eyes and jumped slightly as his lunch appeared before him. Auror Blackmoore walked around the table to sit down again and glared at the Saviour.

"You better finish that food, Mr Potter. That's an order and that goes for the rest of you as well." The silence was interrupted by Auror Zouch laughing.

"Yes, Ma'am. We all better do as she says if we value our lives." The wizard only smirked when he got a glare from the witch but Draco decided quickly it was best to listen as even Potter started to eat properly on his right. After a few minutes, the blond bumped Potter slightly in the shoulder and the wizard looked at him with guilt clearly showing in his eyes. The blond rolled his eyes at him.

"Stop giving me that look, Potter. It's fine." Almost as if someone hexed the man his eyes turned clearer and some of the guilt disappeared. A small smile also appeared on his lips as he nodded at him before going back to his food under the strict look of Auror Blackmoore.

~ཐིཋྀ~

Artemis threw a heating charm over herself as the wind picked up around them while they waited for Hagrid to arrive. Draco and Potter were standing at the edge of the Forest as planned and both boys looked equally as miserable as she felt. Seeing Eminence earlier in the day had not really helped her mood but after the little explosive blackout, she had calmed down slightly. After receiving her wand from the taller witch she had marched straight out and back towards the Ministry to get back to school with the intention to put as much distance between herself and the blonde. Being honest with herself she wasn't sure what would have happened had not Zacharias been there to keep her attention away from Eminence. She had hurt people for less in the past.

However, her mood had worsened when Nott had pointed out what was going on over at the Gryffindor table. Potter had been on some level frozen out by his friends and she felt that it was partially her fault. The boy had listened to her advice, but it seemed that the boy had taken it a tad too far. On the other end of it, all the Slytherins actually seemed to genuinely worry for their prior enemy and were starting to question what was going on. This in Artemis' opinion was a sign for the better and she hoped that they would start questioning the Gryffindors face-to-face. If anything the Slytherin's values were shifted compared to the other Houses but even they would never freeze out one of their own.

"Where the bloody hell is he? It's freezing out here!"

"You wanted to come along, Malfoy so stop complaining. Hagrid said he was going to be a little late but it's only been like two minutes." The blond glared at the ravenhead before putting a heating charm over himself. Potter grinned then.

"You got it! Been practising?" Artemis had to smirk as Draco only huffed at him in return. The wind howled around them as they stood in silence before Artemis spotted Hagrid coming walking towards them.

"Sorry for the wait! Fang was being quite the stubborn old fool, almost had to drag him out by his tail." Said dog came running up at Potter as he wagged his tail happily while the wizard petted him. The half-giant stopped in front of them and looked confused at Draco and herself.

"I'm sorry but I thought only Harry had detention?" Potter was the first one to speak up.

"Forgot to tell you, Hagrid. Malfoy and Auror Blackmoore are coming too. Hope that is OK?" Hagrid looked at Malfoy before turning his attention to her. Confused he looked her up and down before he raised his eyebrows in shock.

"Blackmoore? As in Artemis Blackmoore? I thought you reminded me of someone." The brunette smiled at him.

"It's been a while Hagrid. Hope you don't mind us coming along? Mr Malfoy insisted and I have to go wherever he goes." Looking more confused than ever Hagrid looked at Draco who crossed his arms stubbornly.

"Well, I suppose it's no harm. I was going to show Harry something that I found last week while I was looking after the unicorns. The stubborn creatures have spread quite far from where they usually live thanks to the huge flocks of werewolves in the Forest these days." Artemis watched as Draco paled but he didn't say anything.

"But let's go, heh? I am sure you wanna enjoy what is left of your Friday right? Fang! Come on, boy!" Hagrid started to walk towards the Forest as the dog followed obediently. Draco sent her an unsure look but she winked at him as she pushed him slightly to start walking. Potter joined Hagrid at the front and started to question the half-giant about what he had found.

"Oh, it is amazing, Harry! Never seen anything like it. It's like time has frozen in a little clearing. Talked to Professor Sprout about it but she had never heard of a plant that could do it." Artemis got curious herself while she listened. A place in the Forest where time stood still? She had to admit it was fascinating and had she known about this beforehand she probably would have brought Orion along. The wizard would have a field day if there was a new species of plant that he could use in a potion.

"This is weird. The Forest seems too quiet tonight. It's so noisy usually." Hagrid mumbled more to himself than the others. Artemis only smiled as Draco looked at her knowingly.

After ten minutes of walking, Hagrid started to run the few last meters and held a bush out of the way so the rest of them could pass.

"Here we are! You won't believe your eyes!" When she entered the clearing she recognised the place. It was the same clearing she had been sitting in the first day she had arrived at the school while showing the Forest her deepest sorrow. She swore that the trees close to the clearing had lost all their leaves when she was here last but now they had sprouted new ones and were coloured a brilliant green. The grass and flowers were the same, standing tall and fresh as if spring had just started.

"What the bloody hell?" Draco walked around the place while studying the flowers and trees.

"It's strangely beautiful." Artemis watched as Potter picked a flower from the ground and picked at the pedals.

"Definitely real. That's for sure. You have no clue what did this, Hagrid?"

"Nope. Totally clueless. Though, the centaurs are sure it's dark magic. Don't even want to walk near the place." The ravenhead raised his eyebrow in surprise.

"You asked them too? Thought they took their entire flock and moved." Hagrid nodded.

"Well, that was their plan anyway but they couldn't agree on where to go so they stayed." The brunette had to snort at the typical behaviour of the centaurs.

Now standing in the middle of the clearing she wondered how this had happened. She had been sitting here for a long time the first time around but as far as she knew her powers had never done this before. It was another thing she had to think about she reasoned. Fang ran around excitedly for being such an old dog and sniffed every rock he came over.

"Do you have any idea what this is Auror Blackmoore?" Potter looked at her with big green eyes filled with curiosity.

"No idea, but I know Auror Silver would have a field day with this. Some of these plants might be magical." Hagrid came over to her while he petted his beard.

"You sure? Seems like ordinary plants to me, dunno how they ended up this way though." The brunette shrugged at him to show she didn't know either.

Suddenly, everyone turned their attention to Fang who had stopped at the edge of the clearing and started to growl while looking into the Forest. Hagrid took a better hold of his crossbow and readied a bolt.

"What is it, boy? You smelling something?" Artemis motioned to the two other wizards to come closer and they both quickly went to stand in the middle of the clearing with them. Fang refused to move as he continued to growl at whatever was his focus of attention. The brunette tried to feel around for any magical cores but found none which meant whatever was coming their way was not human. A howl pierced the heavy silence making the group jump.

"I told you there were werewolves, Potter!"

"Shut it, Malfoy!" Artemis looked to the half-giant.

"Time for us to move, quickest way out, please." Hagrid nodded as he moved to the edge and held aside a bush for them to go through.

"Come on, Fang!" After another howl was heard even closer the dog figured out it was best to move and ran past them all to seemingly lead the way.

"Run!" All of them started to sprint the way they came and Artemis could soon hear the sound of heavy footsteps behind them.

Taking a peek behind her just in time she saw a werewolf coming jumping towards and she just managed to dodge it. The others stopped in their tracks as she rolled against the forest floor as the wolf ran off towards the left to circle around them.

"Auror Blackmoore!" She looked up as Draco was on his way towards her to help but she put up a ward right in front of him stopping him in his tracks.

"Run you, idiot! I'll keep him busy!" The blond was about to protest as Potter ran to grab him by the arm and started to drag him along.

"Come on Malfoy! Listen to her! Run!" The wolf howled again in the distance signalling that it was on its way back towards her again and she stood up. Artemis watched as the others continued to run and as soon they were out of sight she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Upon opening them again the wolf was standing about five meters away from her watching her with its mouth gaping open, showing its teeth in an ugly smile.

"So, I was your target after all. What do you want?" The wolf was skinny but obviously muscular as most of the wolves were. Its fur was a light grey and looked fairly kept which told her that this was most likely a human turned full wolf. Some of the human parts of keeping clean were still present within. However, it did not answer as it only growled and readied itself for another pounce. Smirking, Artemis felt for Potter's magical core and found it to soon be out of the Forest.

"Want to fight then? Too bad for you as no one can see me out here so I have no reason to hide, and to be honest, I have to thank you for showing up. I have a ton of unspent energy these days so this will be good for me. Not for you though, sadly." She released her power and smirked as the black smoke started rolling across the Forest floor. It crawled over the plants and rocks like it was a stream of water. The temperature started to drop as the ice started to appear on top of the rocks and leaves closest to her and she breathed a sigh of relief as she felt her eyes turn gold. The werewolf howled at her before taking the opportunity to attack. Smirking, she pointed her finger at it and watched as it stopped in its tracks. Next, she pointed to the left and sent it flying against a tree. It squirmed for a second before running towards her again only for her to repeat the process.

"Stubborn are you?" It growled menacingly at her before slowly starting to circle her as if it was trying to figure out an opening. Artemis let it walk as it pleased while studying it in return. It was not a werewolf she recognised but then again the person underneath the wolf could be for all she knew. She sent the black smoke towards it and watched as it walked backwards in fear. Artemis looked at it with wonder.

"So you are not completely stupid I see." The werewolf growled at her but stopped suddenly when another howl came from further inside the Forest. It turned to look the way the sound came from before howling in return. Without warning it ran towards her and jumped into the air with its mouth wide open, ready to take a bite at her shoulder, however, before it connected she sent a spell directly at its chest making it fly backwards and land heavily on its back. Whimpering while getting up slowly it looked at her with murder in its eyes. Artemis grinned at it as another howl was heard.

"Better run while you have the chance." The werewolf stared at her for a couple of seconds before starting to run to the source of the howling. Artemis watched it go and just as it was getting out of sight sent a Bombarda just close enough so it would get a hint of not returning. Stretching, she clicked her tongue.

"Pathetic."

The Forest was quiet again and just because she had the chance she flung a few spells at the nearest trees to get out some more frustration. Taking a deep breath she felt much better and reminded herself that she had to do this more often. Turning around she Apparated at the edge of the Forest and as she walked out from a couple of trees she was immediately spotted by Draco.

"Artemis!" Surprised by him using her first name she stopped as he ran towards her, quickly followed by Potter and Hagrid.

"Blimey! Are you alright, Auror Blackmoore?" Artemis smiled at them all.

"Totally fine. It scared easily." Hagrid looked at her shocked.

"A werewolf that scared easy? I've never…" Potter looked at her with worry in his eyes.

"You didn't get scratched or bitten?" She shook her head.

"I'm fine, Mr Potter. Are you all alright?" All of them nodded while still looking at her suspiciously. Her eyes met Draco's that were filled with worry to the point where it looked like the wizard was going to explode. She was sure once he got her alone she would hear no end of it, but for now, she settled for smiling at him as if nothing had happened.