Into the Forest Forbidden

Disclaimer: This chapter contains dialogue copied word for word from "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," by the brilliant J. K. Rowling. To stay true to canon, I felt it necessary to do so. All direct quotes appear in italics.

This story was written strictly for fun; no profit has been made in the writing or sharing of this story.

As always, I'd like to extend my deepest thanks to my two wonderful betas, JenGeorge and NervousAboutAngels, for their diligent proof reading and suggestions. They really helped to improve my story.

Chapter 11

"Into the Forest Forbidden,

With So Many Secrets Hidden"

The following afternoon, Severus was sitting in his office listening to Sienna describe her plans for the summer holiday when Draco Malfoy came bursting in, all out of breath and very excited.

"Professor Snape!" He shot a quick glance at Sienna. "Oh, sorry if I interrupted anything," he said with a smirk.

"What is it, Draco?" Severus was obviously irritated at the rude interruption.

"Umbridge needs to see you in her office right away. She caught Potter and Granger trying to talk to someone in her fireplace!"

Severus shook his head. "When will that boy ever learn?" he asked no one in particular as he bolted out the door behind Draco. "Lock up when you're finished, will you?" he called over his shoulder to Sienna.

"Right," her voice floated out the door behind them.

"You sure do spend a lot of time with her, Professor. Is there something going on with you two?"

Anger began to rise in Severus, but he decided that the less he made of the question, the better. "She's my assistant. That is all."

"Then why is she always in your office? She didn't look like she was working on anything just now."

"It's none of your business, Draco, but if you must know, she studies in my office sometimes." Severus was becoming more annoyed. "She studies in Professor McGonagall's office sometimes, too. Would that make you think that she had something going on with Professor McGonagall?"

"No, of course not." Draco looked embarrassed as they marched up the stairs. "It's just that the two of you always seem to be together. Millicent Bulstrode told me about how you two carried on during Christmas break. I saw you coming out of Honeydukes with her on Valentine's Weekend. And you'd think she's a Slytherin the way she's always down here. I'm not the only one who suspects something, sir."

Severus could barely contain his irritation. "It just so happens that because she is older and more mature, she can carry on an intelligent conversation for more than two minutes – which is more than I can say for you and your Neanderthal friends."

"Hey, watch who you're calling Neanderthal! My dad wouldn't like that very much."

"I'm not afraid of your father," sneered Severus, turning to face Draco. His menacing gaze made Draco cower slightly.

"Maybe you should be," Draco tried to bolster himself under Severus' icy stare. "He's got something very special going on sometime in the next couple of days. He's about to make You-Know-Who very happy."

Severus' eyes grew wide with fear. "Quiet, you little fool, someone might hear you. Besides," he lied, "don't you think I already know about that?"

"All right, all right, keep your knickers on," stammered Draco. "I was just starting to worry that you might let your guard down. Kaolin might be a Dumbledore spy, you know. Did you ever think about that?"

"Of course I've considered that. I know I can trust her."

"You left her alone in your office."

"I would know if there was anything – anything – out of place when I got back. Besides, I keep items of any real... significance in my quarters," he sneered.

They were almost to Umbridge's office. "Enough of this nonsense," Severus insisted. "If you could quell these ridiculous rumors for me, Draco, I would be most grateful."

"Sure, Professor." Draco seemed amused.

He entered Umbridge's office, followed closely by Severus. What met Severus' eye when he entered the room would have seemed quite comical under different circumstances. Potter was standing in front of the fireplace, looking guilty and crestfallen. Warrington, a Slytherin thug and one of Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad, had Ron Weasley in a half nelson. Neville Longbottom's face had turned a delicate shade of purple thanks to Crabbe's iron grip around his neck. Granger was making feeble attempts to throw Millicent Bulstrode off her. Ginny Weasley's footwork was admirable, but still didn't help to deter the sixth-year girl who had both of her upper arms in a tight grip. Luna Lovegood was the only one standing there looking calm and serene. Did she realize that to struggle was to waste energy? Severus wasn't sure about her. Sometimes she hinted at brilliance. But usually she just seemed clueless. Severus still had to stifle a laugh. "You wanted to see me, Headmistress?" he inquired, trying to look as completely indifferent as possible.

"Ah, Professor Snape," said Umbridge, smiling widely and standing up again. "Yes, I would like another bottle of Veritaserum, as quick as you can, please."

"You took my last bottle to interrogate Potter," he lied, surveying her coolly. "Surely you did not use it all? I told you that three drops would be sufficient."

Umbridge flushed. Severus knew that she not only couldn't brew her own, she wouldn't know what to look for if she searched his private stores herself.

"You can make some more, can't you?" She said, her voice becoming more sweetly girlish as it always did when she was furious.

"Certainly," said Severus, trying not to smile too much. He was going to savor every syllable of his next sentence. "It takes a full moon cycle to mature, so I should have it ready for you in about a month."

"A month?" squawked Umbridge, swelling toadishly. "A month? But I need it this evening, Snape! I have just found Potter using my fire to communicate with a person or persons unknown!"

"Really?" said Severus as a thought came to him. Potter had been so easy to read during Occlumency lessons. Perhaps... He looked around at Potter, who was staring directly into his eyes. "Well, it doesn't surprise me. Potter has never shown much inclination to follow school rules."

Just as Severus suspected, Potter didn't look away. Legilimens, he thought. Images began to float to the surface... the Dark Lord... a man on the floor in the shadows.

"I wish to interrogate him!" repeated Umbridge angrily, and Severus had to break his link with Potter to look at her instead. "I wish you to provide me with a potion that will force him to tell me the truth!"

"I have already told you," said Severus smoothly, trying not to lose his temper with this most unreasonable and idiotic woman, "that I have no further stocks of Veritaserum. Unless you wish to poison Potter – and I assure you I would have the greatest sympathy with you if you did – I cannot help you. The only trouble is that most venoms act too fast to give the victim much time for truth-telling..."

Severus looked quickly back at Potter, who stared at him with desperate eyes. Legilimens... "Crucio!" he heard the Dark Lord's voice ring out. The shadowy figure on the floor lifted his head and screamed in pain. Severus could see it was Sirius Black. And although he would have almost enjoyed watching Voldemort torture Black after all he had put Severus through, he also knew that this was exactly what Dumbledore had been trying to prevent. He knew it might be a trick, a trap. But he would have to get away from Umbridge before he could find out for sure.

"You are on probation!" shrieked Umbridge. Severus raised his eyebrows at this, but it didn't really surprise him. "You are being deliberately unhelpful! I expected better; Lucius Malfoy always speaks most highly of you! Now get out of my office!"

Relieved that he could get off so quickly, Severus bowed with mock gratitude and turned on his heel towards the door.

"He's got Padfoot!" shouted Potter suddenly. "He's got Padfoot at the place where it's hidden!"

Severus turned back to Potter. What on earth had he blurted that out for? Couldn't he tell when the spell was used on him? Couldn't he feel its effects like Sienna could, like he could when the Dark Lord used it on him? Potter was about to blow everything. Severus knew his only hope was to play dumb.

"Padfoot?" cried Professor Umbridge, looking eagerly from Potter to Severus. "What is Padfoot? Where what is hidden?' What does he mean, Snape?"

"I have no idea," he replied, keeping his voice steady and cool. "Potter, when I want nonsense shouted at me I shall give you a Babbling Beverage. And Crabbe, loosen your hold a little, if Longbottom suffocates it will mean a lot of tedious paperwork, and I am afraid I shall have to mention it on your reference if ever you apply for a job."

Severus left the room, closing the door behind him with a snap and a sigh of relief. He walked as fast as he could back to his office without looking alarmed. Sienna was gone, thank goodness. He didn't have time to deal with her questions at this point. He closed the door and locked it, putting a Muffliato spell on it for good measure.

"Expecto Patronum!" Severus lifted his wand in the air, and the silver doe emerged triumphantly from its tip. "Go to Headquarters and find out if Sirius Black is still there and safe. Come back with your answer. Talk only to Sirius. Take no one else's word for it. I want to know that you have seen him." As the doe reared up and started across the room, he added, "And tell him to stay there!" It disappeared through the stone wall. Severus knew it would arrive in London at the speed of light. He would have his answer in a few moments.

Severus busied himself by pacing the floor and poking the fire. Even in the spring, it was so cold down in the Slytherin dungeon that he still needed the house-elves to keep the fire going. Finally, the doe Patronus returned. The message was conveyed as if he was hearing a memory of the conversation Sirius had had with the Patronus. Good, Black was safe at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, and had no plans to leave. The Patronus dissolved into thin air and Severus sat down in his chair as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

This was perfect. Umbridge would keep Potter detained so he couldn't do anything stupid, like trying to rescue Sirius. Maybe tonight, finally, Severus could get a good night's sleep...NOT!

Someone was pounding on his office door. Merlin's Beard! What now?! He pointed his wand at the door. It swung open to reveal Malfoy moaning about something, but Severus couldn't understand him very well because his face was covered with flapping bat wings.

"Chiroptera Removo," Severus said casually with another flick of his wand to return Malfoy's face to normal.

"That wretched little Weasley girl put a Bat Bogey Hex on me!"

"Obviously."

"They got away!!"

Severus jumped up, almost knocking over his chair. "Where did they go?"

"Granger said something about a weapon in the Forbidden Forest. Said they'd been working on it for Dumbledore. She and Potter led Professor Umbridge into the forest. My guess is that's where the rest of them went, too."

Severus' mind was racing. He and Malfoy ran upstairs and checked on the others. He took the impediment jinx off Crabbe. The rest didn't seem the worse for wear.

"Go back to your dormitories, all of you. I'll go look for them in the forest. You can't come. It's much too dangerous."

Malfoy looked disappointed, but a bit relieved at the same time. He didn't want to miss out on anything, but then again, the Forbidden Forest had never been one of his favorite destinations.

What in the world was Potter up to? Did he know what Hagrid had been doing all year and why he always looked so badly beaten up? Could they have been working on something that Dumbledore didn't want him to know about? No...Dumbledore wouldn't keep something like that from him. Dumbledore would have asked him to help, too. This must be only Hagrid's doing. But now, Hagrid was gone. Perhaps he had asked Potter to continue working on it in his absence. Well, I will soon find out, Severus thought as he waded into the undergrowth, following the path they had made before him.

After about 20 minutes, even his wandlight seemed to dim in the stifling darkness. Severus finally came to a clearing where just a bit of starlight managed to filter through the trees. He could see from the marks on the ground and the snapped and broken trees around the clearing that a great commotion had taken place here recently. He saw what appeared to be a wand split in two on the ground. As he reached down to pick it up, he heard a twig snap behind him. He stood slowly and turned to face about 20 centaurs, all with bows drawn and aimed right at him.

Severus' heart began to pound. He wasn't ready to die yet. There was too much left to do. He wanted his death to mean something. He took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves. "I mean you no harm."

"Who are you, human?"

"I am Professor Severus Snape, the Potions master at Hogwarts."

There was a general murmuring among the centaurs.

"We have heard Hagrid speak highly of you."

"And I have heard Hagrid speak highly of you all." Severus figured it would be prudent to return the compliment.

"What need do you have to trespass in our forest, Severus Snape?"

"I came in search of the other humans who wandered in here earlier this evening." Severus chose his words carefully. "I know you feel that helping humans is beneath you, but you would be helping yourselves if you could enlighten me as to their whereabouts, for I could remove them from your midst so they would trouble you no longer."

"He speaks with wisdom," said Magorian to the others. "He means us no harm." They began to lower their bows.

"But the woman, she insulted us!" cried Bane.

"Yes," agreed Magorian, turning back to Severus. "You may not have the woman. She is OURS!"

"She must PAY for what she said and did," hollered Bane, becoming even more agitated. The others all started getting restless again. Some even raised their bows towards Severus.

"The woman doesn't concern me," Severus said hastily. "She's an ignorant fool, who does not understand or appreciate the beauty and wisdom of your people. Do what you wish with her."

With this comment, the Centaurs relaxed their arms and lowered their bows. Severus closed his eyes and gave an inner thank you to the powers that be, then continued cautiously. "But I am concerned about the children, the foals that were with her. Do you have them as well?"

"No," replied Magorian, "We do not harm foals."

"Do you by any chance know where they went?"

"Why should we help you, human?" Bane had stepped forward in an attempt to intimidate Severus, but he stood his ground, holding his head high, but keeping his wand lowered.

"I am most concerned for the safety of the one called Harry Potter. I believe you know of him, of his significance?"

"Yes." One of the others stepped forward from the crowd. His posture was not threatening like Bane's. He looked at Magorian, as if to ask for permission to continue. Magorian nodded.

"I am called Ronan." Severus gave him a short but respectable bow. "I stayed behind as Hagrid's little brother, the giant known as Grawp, attacked us."

Severus looked surprised for a moment at the thought of a giant loose in the Forbidden Forest. So that was Hagrid's little secret.

"The two foals who came with the woman were left behind," Ronan continued. "One of them was the human known as Harry Potter. I wanted to be sure they did not trespass even deeper into our territory. I watched as others joined them."

"How many others?"

"Four."

Severus thought back to the scene in Umbridge's office. Longbottom, Lovegood, Ron and Ginny. Merlin's Beard – Potter didn't stand a chance with that bunch against the Death Eaters. He felt a sense of panic begin to rise in his chest.

"The first two attracted Thestrals with the blood of Grawp on their clothing. Then each mounted one and flew away."

Oh, God, what have they done? thought Severus. "Did you by chance hear where they said they were going?" He held his breath, hoping his hunch was wrong.

"I heard Harry Potter tell his Thestral, 'Ministry of Magic, visitors' entrance, London.'"

Severus' heart was pounding somewhere in the general vicinity of his throat. He knew what he was about to do was risky, but he had to try. "Listen to me please, Magorian. I need to send a message. Every second counts. I know you don't like wizards or their magic in your midst, but if I take another twenty minutes to get out of here before I send this message, it could be too late. Potter and his friends are headed for a trap set by the Dark Lord – He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." Severus looked from centaur to centaur in hopes of some approval or recognition. They all stared at him, stone faced. He raised his wand to summon his Patronus. Twenty bows pulled twenty arrows taught and ready.

"Magorian... Please."

There was no response.

Severus steeled his resolve. "Alright, do what you must with me, but let me send my message first. The sending of this message will not harm or alter anything in your forest. You have my word."

"You would sacrifice yourself in the hope of saving Harry Potter?"

Severus closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them again to look Magorian in the eye. He almost couldn't believe what he was about to say.

"Yes."

There was another general murmur in the crowd. Several of them looked up through the treetops to the stars above. "Mars looks red tonight," said one.

"And Jupiter is in line with Neptune," said another.

"Yes, I see it, too," said Ronan. A few more agreed.

"Very well," concluded Magorian. "Send your message, Severus Snape, then leave us."

Severus nodded. "Thank you. I am forever in your debt." He bowed deeply to Magorian, then turned away from the centaurs as they began to disperse.

"Expecto Patronum." He gave his message to be taken to Headquarters. He watched as the glowing silver doe disappeared through the trees; then Severus headed out of the forest and back to the castle. When the doe returned, he was back in his quarters, getting ready for bed. He wasn't surprised to find out that Sirius had insisted on going with the other Order members to rescue Harry, even though he had specifically asked him to stay behind to wait for Dumbledore. That chore was delegated to Kreacher, Sirius's vile house-elf.

Somehow, Severus knew, this was all going to end badly.

*****

Severus didn't sleep well that night. He kept tossing and turning with nightmares about those misfit children in Umbridge's office battling the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters. Would any of them live to tell the tale?

When he awoke the next morning, he gratefully found out that they all had indeed returned, and although most of them ended up in the hospital wing, they would all make a full recovery. Many of the Death Eaters had been captured and were on their way to Azkaban, including Lucius Malfoy. This is good, thought Severus. Draco's ego was getting a bit out of hand. This would bring him down a peg or two. And although the Dark Lord had escaped, the world now knew without question that he was back with a vengeance. And best of all, so was Dumbledore!

The end of year feast was extravagant as always, but Severus didn't feel much like celebrating. He was relieved, of course, that all of the students had returned alive, but now VWII was about to go into full swing. Life was not going to be fun. He would definitely need to push his feelings for Sienna into the dark recesses of his mind until the war was over. Besides, she would graduate next year and get on with her life. He tried to convince himself that, in spite of her vision, he would probably never see her again after that anyway. Better get used to the idea sooner rather than later.

As the feast ended and throngs of people began to exit the Great Hall, Sienna caught up with Severus. He was heading down to his office. Dumbledore had asked him to research a particularly deadly potion which he thought he remembered seeing in the book Sienna had given him for Christmas. She wanted to help so he agreed to let her accompany him. He decided to wait until fall to push her away, so she could enjoy her summer break.

They looked up the potion in Severus' old book. It was one that they had not found the antidote to yet. They used the loose copies that they had made at Christmas and compared that potion to all of the antidotes that were not already matched up with something.

"Is this important?"

"Apparently. The Headmaster asked me to find the antidote as soon as possible."

"I can stay and help you, if you want. I don't have to take the train tomorrow. I can Apparate home later."

"Oh, I think I can handle it on my own," Severus said reluctantly. He would have liked her to stay, of course, but he knew he was only postponing the inevitable.

"Well, I can help you get started. Is there anything we need that I can go fetch for you?"

"Sienna..." Severus felt depressed. There were so many things he wanted to say. But he couldn't find the right words.

"You want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Is this about Sirius Black?"

"What about Sirius Black?"

"I know you went to school with him. He was Harry's godfather. He got killed last night. His own cousin killed him. Imagine that. But Harry blames you for some reason. Do you blame yourself?"

"Of course not," Severus became indignant. "I had nothing to do with it."

"Then why would Harry say that?"

Severus took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He stood lost in thought. Perhaps he was partly to blame. He looked deep into Sienna's sparkling blue-gray eyes. He remembered what Lily had said in the dream about all the love he would find there. He remembered finding that love in her eyes on Valentine's Day in his quarters. He wanted to get lost in them, get away from this bizarre life he found himself in.

"Remember last Christmas break when I had to run an errand for Professor Dumbledore?"

"Yes."

"Well, I went to deliver a message to Potter. He was staying at Black's house. I saw Black while I was there, and we had a little... disagreement."

Sienna could tell that he really needed to think out loud about this. "A disagreement?"

"He was in hiding, as you know, because he had escaped from Azkaban. He was in there for a murder that he didn't commit."

"I remember reading about it. I've been overhearing snippets of conversations between Harry, Ron and Hermione that led me to believe that he was wrongly accused."

"Yes, well, after 12 years in Azkaban for something he didn't do, he had been forced to hole up in that dreadful house of his family's for the last two years. It's worse than my house on Spinner's End, and that's saying something."

Sienna chuckled. "I didn't know you had a house."

"It's nothing. Just an old rundown Muggle house in a dilapidated Muggle neighborhood. It belonged to my father."

Severus stopped. He wasn't sure how he could get across what happened without telling Sienna about the Order of the Phoenix. After a few moments of silence, he continued. "I goaded him into wanting to get out of the house, to risk being discovered," Severus said with a touch of guilt in his voice. But then he thought about school, about how Sirius was always pushing the envelope, breaking the rules, living on the edge.

"Harry didn't know his godfather like I did. I knew he would rather die defending his best friend's son than rot away in that awful house, listening to his mother's portrait scream vile obscenities at him. I just helped him realize it, that's all. So in a way, I did him a favor." Severus sat back in his chair. He really believed what he had just said. Somehow he knew that Black was happier, wherever he now was.

Severus genuinely felt better. How did Sienna know that this conversation was just what he needed? This was not the subject he had in mind when they started their conversation.

"It's getting late," Severus said to Sienna with a sad tone in his voice. "We had better say our goodbyes now. You know how chaotic it will be around here in the morning."

"Will you please write to me this summer?"

"Sorry, I don't do pen pals."

Sienna scowled. Then her look changed to concern. "I don't know what you'll be up to this summer, but do be careful, won't you?"

"That is always my intention." He hadn't told her the details about his jaunt into the Forbidden Forest just the night before.

"Just think, no Umbridge next year," she said with a broad smile.

"No," he replied with caution, "but things could get much worse, for different reasons."

"I guess you're right." Her smile was replaced with a look of concern. "I'd better go finish packing... Do I at least get a hug?"

"Of course." His austere surface melted as he opened his arms to her.

They wrapped themselves around each other. This felt much like that night over Christmas break in the Gryffindor Common Room, but this time there was no cognac to blame it on. He followed his heart just a little and brushed the top of her head with his lips. Her curls felt soft and smelled of lavender. He didn't want to let her go, and he could tell by her tight grasp that she felt the same way. They pulled apart just enough to meet each other's anxious gaze. He felt that same warm wave wash over him that he had felt on Valentine's Day, and she was giving him that same look of longing. Could he justify a kiss? The mere thought made his heart race. It took every ounce of willpower he had to resist. Instead, he settled for planting his lips firmly on her forehead, just above the bridge of her nose. When he pulled away, she looked a little disappointed, but not heartbroken.

They managed to pull themselves apart and say goodbye. He watched her go with a heavy heart. He knew that next year would be very, very different.