Disclaimer: No I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters or anything else related to Harry Potter. However, I do believe that I own the plot. Not that it counts for much, but it's something.

Chapter 1

Watching and Waiting

It was one the darkest and coldest nights of January. The night sky was filled with dark ominous clouds, covering the moon, leaving the woods in complete darkness. The only light came from the illuminated castle, where most of its inhabitants were fast asleep with no knowledge of what was to occur that night.

She stood on the edge of the forbidden forest draped in her invisibility cloak. Her gaze, trying to penetrate beyond the trees, looked deep into the menacing woods. Her field of vision just barely passed through a few rows of trees, but she dared not enter the forest. There were fiendish creatures that lurked within the trees. She had no wish to see herself killed that night.

The chill from the snow had finally reached her feet and she stamped them with impatience. The tower clock chimed, telling her it was 10:45. If he didn't show within the next fifteen minutes, she would return to the castle. She had waited nearly an hour in the snow, and it appeared that he was not going to show that night.

Looking down on the ground, she checked to make sure her cloak covered every inch of her body. There would likely be quite a panic if someone were to look outside their dorm window only to see a lone leg standing by the forest. A smile came to her face when she thought of that. She could just picture one of the first years waking up his sleeping companions to tell them a severed body part lay on the grounds of Hogwarts. Slowly she walked back to the tree stump and sat down while arranging the cloak securely around her frozen body.

The snow-covered ground was littered with her footprints. She couldn't shake this feeling of foreboding that seemed to be following her. She kept telling herself there was no reason to be so nervous. Nothing ominous was going to happen. But she couldn't prevent herself from standing up again to pace in front of the trees.

She glanced up at the smoky black sky. There would be a blizzard that night. There was no doubt about it. One didn't need to be an expert in Divination to know that. One could just smell it in the air. Already a few flakes had begun to fall, landing softly on the grounds. If she weren't so cold, she might have been able to enjoy the softly falling flakes. Watching the lazy downward drift of snowflakes had always been a favorite pastime for her. Mother Nature could be so beautiful. The blizzard of course would be a good thing. By morning, no one would know she had been there. An invisibility cloak may prevent anything from seeing you, but it didn't cover up tracks in the snow.

Just then, the sound of hoof beats approached her straining ears. Whoever was coming towards her from the forest was advancing at a run. Her gaze returned to the woods, attempting to locate the source of the sound. There was no doubt in her mind that this could be anyone but Nutricius. No one else would be out on a night like this in the Forbidden Forest.

Suddenly a large shadow seemed to come alive through the trees directly in front of her. It was as though the forest had become animated with the sole purpose of destroying the girl who so thoughtlessly disturbed its realm. The shadow appeared to be heading straight towards the hidden girl, as though it knew she was there waiting. At last it came into her line of view.

It was no ghost or trick of the night that came tearing out of the dead foliage. What came towards her was decidedly real, with the face of a god. Bronze skin that looked as though it belonged on a beach, and eyes as blue as the Caribbean Sea. His hair was a golden brown that lightly fell across his forehead, and his muscular torso was that of a well-trained athlete, glistening slightly with sweat from the run. She would have said he was the most beautiful man she had ever laid eyes on if it were not for the rest of his body. When the god-like torso ended, the body of a horse began with the same golden brown hair. This was no man that came bursting out of the trees towards her, rather it was a centaur.

However, before the centaur managed to reach her concealed form, he seemed to tumble to the forest floor. Expecting him to get back up, she just stood there waiting. But the wait was in vain. The centaur did not even move.

Rushing to the fallen creature, she called out to him. "Nutricius!" But the sound did not reach his ears. Instead her cloak trapped her call beneath its folds.

"I forgot to say the spell," she muttered to herself, and quickly said "Auditio Nutricius."

Once again she called out his name "Nutricius!" just as she reached his side. Sinking to her knees, she cradled the dying biform head in her lap.

"Hermione?" questioned a rasping voice coming from the fallen animal.

"Yes, it's me. Shush. I'm going to try and find Dumbledore."

"No, there isn't time."

"But…"

"I have the information we needed…" Nutricius was seized by a violent coughing fit. Hermione couldn't help but notice the blood that was brought up with each cough. She could see the life slowly draining from his beautiful blue eyes. Already they had lost their vivacity. He seemed to be just clinging to life.

"It's Lacrimosus."

"What's 'Lacrimosus'?" Hermione asked. The strange word had no meaning to her. She couldn't remember ever hearing it before. But once again, Nutricius began a fit of coughing. Blood was now trickling down from the corner of his mouth.

What seemed little more than a whisper, he said urgently, "Just find Lacrimosus." Taking one final breath, he closed his eyes and let go of the hold he had kept on life.

Looking up from Nutricius' lifeless face lying in her lap, she noticed for the first time a silver dagger lodged deeply in his back. The silver hilt protruded out from the river of blood caused by the deadly wound. What caught Hermione's attention the most was what lay at the end of the knife.

It was a skull, but not just any skull. In the eye sockets rested two blood-red rubies, that despite the dark night seemed to glitter as though liquid. However, the most gruesome part was the snake that came jutting out of the mouth like a tongue.

Hermione could not prevent a shiver from running down her spine. This was no ordinary dagger. There was only one group of people who would have kept such a disgusting piece of weaponry. The one who threw it was no doubt one of Voldemort's Death Eaters, and the murderer could still be in the forest, watching, and waiting…

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Author's Note: This is my first fanfiction, but don't go easy on me. I really want to know what you thought of it, so please review. I know that this chapter didn't really tell you much about what's going to happen, but I promise you'll find out everything later. This story is going to become a Draco/Hermione fic, but you're going to have to wait a bit before the action begins.