Draco had never been so utterly offended, and terrified, in his whole life. The fact that he'd received detention in the first place was bad enough, especially when he'd only been doing the right thing. The letter in Weasley's spellbook had told him everything he'd needed to know about the dragon and the midnight meeting at the Astronomy tower.
However, classroom detention would have been easier to swallow than a night in the Forbidden Forest. It simply wasn't right! He was a First Year, for Salazar's sake, surely there were laws against this sort of thing? Sending students into the Forest was nothing short of insane, and not to mention dangerous. Something was attacking unicorns in the Forest, and they were the ones entrusted with tracking it down? Genius idea. Really clever. Now he was stuck with that bumbling idiot Longbottom and the slobbering mess of a dog that was Fang. In the middle of the dark woods. Alone.
A twig snapped and Draco barely muffled a scream. Longbottom failed to mask his shriek at all. The two boys clung to each other for a few long moments, before Draco realised himself and shoved the other boy off. "Get the lantern. Let's keep moving." He refused to acknowledge the tremor in his own voice. What would his mother do if he died? Eaten by some savage werewolf, or maybe something even worse? He dreaded to think. His father would be furious, no doubt. The Ministry itself would have to get involved!
The two boys continued down the narrow winding path. Overhead, trees reached over, the spidery branches barely visible against the patches of black sky. The moon wasn't even full, keeping them shrouded in darkness. Draco shivered. He could feel something watching them. Glancing at Fang, he saw the dog was largely unbothered and allowed himself to relax. Maybe it was just a bowtruckle or something, watching them from a hole in a trunk. Glancing at the boy beside him, Draco could see Longbottom's bottom lip quivering, his grip vice-like on the lantern. He was trembling so hard that he looked like he was vibrating.
"W-What do you think attacked the unicorns?" Longbottom's words were a stuttered whisper in the dull orange glow of the lamp. He shot Draco a terrified glance. "They w-wouldn't really put us in danger, would they?"
"Maybe." Draco did his best to fix his smirk into place, though he wasn't feeling half as cool on the inside. "That's probably why they put you with me. I need somebody as bait."
"B-Bait?" Longbottom went pale and he stumbled to a stop. Draco shoved him in the back and forced him forward.
"Don't start crying. The werewolf will hear you." Then, as quickly as he could, Draco slipped behind a towering oak. Back pressed against the trunk, he hid in the shadows, out of sight. He heard Longbottom continue on a few steps before he stopped. A moment later, his wavering whisper filled the air.
"M-Malfoy? Come out, I... it's not funny anymore." He whimpered and Draco could barely contain his laughter. Oh, this was almost too easy. "Malfoy!" Another urgent hiss before Longbottom began to walk off. Draco peered around the trunk to watch him. Then, he slipped out from his hiding place, creeping as carefully as he could until he was just behind the Gryffindor...
"Grrrr!"
Longbottom gave another hysterical shriek. Fumbling for his wand, he dropped it, snatched it up again, then sent red sparks soaring into the sky above. They burst like the scattered embers of a fire in the black night. Draco, too, was in hysterics, but from laughter. He could barely stand up-right, palm pressed against the trunk of a nearby tree for support. "You should see your face!"
"That wasn't funny!" Longbottom's eyes glistened with tears. "I thought you were a werewolf!" It wasn't long before Hagrid found them, and when he realised neither were injured nor dying, he scolded Draco and led them both back. Walking behind the giant of a man, Draco smirked, feeling a lot more confident now they weren't alone. It was a cruel prank, but he didn't care. It wasn't like they were going to encounter anything scarier tonight...