The Heart of the Forbidden Forest.

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Shadow into the forest, running as fast as she could. The night was cold around her, but she didn't care. It was coming, and she could feel it. She had to get away from the school. She couldn't bear it if something happened and it was her fault. Her feet pounded on the mosy ground and she hurtled over fallen trees. She was nearly there, nearly there...

"No duh." Shadow muttered quietly. She looked at Holly. "You should have left when I told you to..."

"But Im okay," Holly said, unsure of the reason behind the last sentence, "So whats the problem?"

Shadow looked at her before sighing.
"When I feel emotion, I'm supposed to emit magic. I suppress it so as not to hurt anyone, but it stays, and it eventually burst out, like I did just then."

"Ooooh," Holly said, still not totally sure, "So that would be like, really dangerous if someone were to be there with you?"

Shadow nodded.
"That's why I wanted you to leave."

"Oh," Holly said, "Well that's very self-less of you."
She did not however, promise Shadow she would stay out of the way next time. Nor did she say anything about cookies. But why would she?

"No one should be around when that happens..." Shadow said softly. "It's too dangerous." She gestured round the blackened clearing.

"MM...." Holly said, "Im glad it's over. Dont tell anyone else....but I was scared."
She smiled slightly.

Shadow smiled back sadly.
"It's all a part of being human, being scared."

"I suppose." she said nodding, "Do you get scared?"
Afterwards, she regretted saying this and cursed herself.

"Occasionally." Shadow said with a smile.

Natalie smiled at Shadow.
"I get scared sometimes...particularly of losing friend's like you guys," sighed Natalie, "I'm glad you're ok Shad....I thought you were losing all your magic."

Shadow shook her head.
"It's just the build up of magic I get. It hurts like hell, but I recover." She said.

"I couldn't stand to see you in so much pain...I had to do that to take some of it away from you," NAtalie explained.

"Yeah, and I don't share my pain. The pain I feel can be too much for some people and can drive them insane." Shadow said.

"True that....that was more painful than crucio," said NAtalie, shivering slightly.

"Nat is already-"
Holly shut up without having to be told. She was growing up. What a day.

Natalie smiled at Holly.
"You are improviing my son..." said Natalie in the air of a Karate coach.

Shadow rolled her eyes at her friends.
"Seriously, I thought you'd both be smarter than that."

"Thanks," Holly said, "Butcha thought wrong didd'en ya?"
She laughed and pointed at Shadow.
"Shadow was wrong," she chanted. "HAHA!"

Natalie looked at Holly.
"And you really dunno how you got here?" she asked her.

Holly shook her head.
"Nadda clue," she said, "Im quite worried about it to be honest."

"We shall help you find out," said Natalie.
She smiled reassuringly.

"How?" Holly asked smiling sadly, "I dont think we will ever know. Last thing I remember I fell asleep in the common room on my chair."

"Were you with anyone?" Natalie asked
She was worried about Holly now.

Holly swallowed.
"Um....yeah...." she said looking away, "Dude. Riley. Maybe he knows."

"Yes...Riley would be a start," said Natalie, thinking to herself.

"Yeah," Holly said, "Let's go-"
There was a moan from about fifty feet away. Very faint, but it was audible. Holly clutched Natalie's arm.
"What was that?"
It happened again.
Someone, calling something.

"Um," said Natalie, stepping forward.
She stood on something...
A leg...
She stepped off it quickly with a scream.

"Holly?" the voice asked warily.
Holly crept closer to reveal-"
"Riley!" Holly breathed helping him up, "Jeepers, dude what happened to us?"

Shadow walked cautiosly alongside them, looking around, and jumping three feet in the air when Nat screamed.

"Riley?" Hayley said, peering down, "Dude, why are you here- how did you get here?" she asked, looking at Natalie, with a worried expression, "This is wierd," she added.

"I know...plus I just stood on him....and I'm like...not that heavy but still....if he's injured we need to take him to the hospital wing," Natalie said.

"I suppose," said Hayley, looking at Riley worriedly. "You okay dude?" she asked, kneeling down beside him.
She then turned to Natalie, "Whaddya spose we do?"

"I can try to heal him, but I can't promise." Shadow said.

Natalies smiled at Shadow.
"I'm sure Riley could say yes if he could," said Natalie.

Shadow smiled slightly at her friend and knelt down, starting to heal.
"This is gonna take longer than usual." She said in warning.

"How long is long?" Holly asked nervously sitting next to her, "What happened to us Riley?"
"I dunno," he muttered clutching his evidently sore head.

Shadow didn't answer Holly's question, devoting all her attention to healing Riley. She worked at it solidly for ten minutes before she sat back, finished.

"Well?" Holly demanded of Riley, "Are you alright now?"
The tone of voice indicated that whatever had happened, it was his fault.
"Thank you," Riley muttered to Shadow, ignoring Holly's questioning.

"Welcome." Shadow said tiredly, drained of her energy.

Natalie patted Shadow on the back and smiled.
"That was good," said Natalie.
There was a large rock nearby.
"Do you want to sit down?" she asked Shadow.

Shadow shook her head slowly.
"I'll live."

Natalie sighed.
"Ok then...but if you feel faint...sit down," said Natalie, smiling slightly.

Shadow raised an eyebrow.
"You try going through a power surge and then heal someone. After that, tell me how YOU feel."

"Told!" Holly said, snapping her fingers appropriately at Natalie.

"It's a bit like having your mind and body ripped apart, going through a power surge. And when I heal someone, I take the pain, and heal the injury itself." Shadow explained.

Natalie frowned, and shivered as she thought about it.
"Ok then....stop yelling....jeez," she mumbled.

Holly snorted at the words "power surge" but knew from experience she shouldnt say anything. It was very immature anyway.

Shadow shot a tired, but withering glare at Holly.
"Don't mock it. You haven't tried to go through one. Nat felt it."