An Acromantula

It ran at Millicent on eight long, hairy legs at great speed. Once Millicent had seen it, it was too late for her to defend herself. The giant spider rammed into her, making both wand and switch fly out of her hands.

Hermione froze for a minute as Millicent lay on the ground, fighting to keep the large, dripping pincers from digging into her neck.

Hermione quickly regained her senses and thought. Should she run? She could leave Millicent here and be done... But she couldn't just abandon her captor to die. Even Malfoy had been saved twice by Harry in the Battle of Hogwarts.

As Millicent screamed in terror, Hermione looked around for the wand, but it had gotten so dark that discerning a wand from any other stick on the forest floor was impossible. Hermione had no other choice. Hoping that Millicent was so preoccupied with her own worries that she wouldn't notice, Hermione held out her hand and whispered. "Accio wand!"

Immediately, Millicent's wand flew into Hermione's outstretched hand. She didn't waste time. She whipped around and aimed the wand at the spider. Recalling the spell Harry had mentioned using on acromantula in his second year, she shouted "Arania Exumai!"

A flash of blue light zoomed at the giant spider, knocking it off Millicent. It lay on its back, legs curled and twitching.

"I-Is it dead?" Millicent asked, panting.

"The spell only knocks them out." Hermione added. "Come on, we've got to go!"

But it seemed that was not the only acromantula in that part of the forest tonight. They heard more scuttling and more clicking of pincers coming towards them.

Millicent's eyes widened in horror. "I don't think we can outrun them!"

Hermione herself was scared now. A thought came to her though... No harm could come to her until she finished the tasks. She began to repeat in her head over and over again. "We will not become spider food! We will not become spider food!"

As the giant spiders got closer and closer, they heard the roar of an engine. The two girls spun around to see two bright lights from between the trees, running over some acromantula while knocking others aside. As it got closer, Hermione was able to make out that it was a light blue Ford Angela, barrelling towards them.

"What on earth is that!?" Millicent squealed.

"That," Hermione exclaimed, "is our ticket out of here!"

When the car stopped in front of them, it opened the passenger side door. "Come on!" Hermione screamed, tugging on Millicent's sleeve. Millicent was hesitant to get on, not knowing what this thing was, but it was better than dying.

After they got in, the car sped off, back towards the castle.

"What is this thing?!" Millicent asked

"This is a muggle car," Hermione explained, gasping through pain. Her bottom was still painful from where Millicent had hit it. "This was Arthur Weasley's, the one that hit the whomping willow in our second year! Ron and Harry told me how it had gone wild in the forest... It seems to have taken up a job of protecting people from acromantula now..."

Millicent just stared in awe as the car drove them out of the forest.

Once the car had reached the forest's edge, the door opened again, allowing Hermione and Millicent to get out.

"I think..." Millicent started. "That's enough for one night. I-I'm not done with my questions yet, mudblood, but after that... I think I need to lie down for a bit... My wand?"

"Oh, yes," Hermione answered, handing Millicent her wand back.

As they walked back to the castle, Hermione on her feet this time, Millicent spoke up again. "Why did you save me?"

"I-you're not sorry I did, are you?"

"No, it's just... You know that I know you're plotting something. You could have easily just let my **** be considered an accident in the forest. My sudden disappearance would have saved you a lot of trouble. Why did you bother?"

"Well..." Hermione began, unsure of what to say. "It's just that I couldn't leave you to die... It wouldn't be right."

"And yet it would have given you what you want, right? Just tell McGonagall and the others that you saw me heading to the forest alone and that I hadn't returned. Sure, Pansy and Daph might know the truth, but it's not like McGonagall would believe them. Hell, if your plan is to get robes from that Weasley girl, you might even be able to hide the whole nudity thing from McGonagall! Or you could tell her the truth and then run to her, telling McGonagall that you only just got away from me smacking your arse, making it so she'd **** the others to let you go. There's no good reason for this unless..."

Millicent then stopped. It was as if an idea struck her. "You... You actually do just enjoy this, don't you?"

"I... what?" Hermione just as stunned as Millicent.

"You actually want us to keep treating you like this... It makes sense now..." Millicent spoke, surprised at her own epiphany. "You really aren't trying to turn Daphne against me and Pansy... You saved me to make sure that you could keep getting treated like this!"

"Well..." Hermione paused. It was at least an explanation that Millicent might be able to understand, even if it wasn't entirely true. She decided to tell Millicent only a half-truth. "Yes... I do enjoy it." She confessed quickly, feeling immense shame at telling one of the Slytherins. "I didn't much care for what you did in the forest though..." Hermione rubbed her arse, wincing at the pain.

Millicent looked at the ground sheepishly. "... sorry." She said. "Come on, Daph said she'd have medicine waiting for us in the entrance hall... She didn't want me to hurt you too badly..."

Once they entered the castle, Daphne had a look of horror from the state of Hermione. "What did you do to her!?" She demanded of Millicent, ignoring the scrapes and dirt on Millicent.

"W-we ran into some acromantula." Millicent explained.

"You WHAT?!" Daphne shouted. She turned Hermione around and pointed at the marks left on Hermione's arse from her whipping. "Acromantula don't do that! Tell the truth!"

"She is!" Hermione insisted. "We went into the forest to talk and we were attacked! We only just got out with our lives!"

Daphne stared at Hermione, then Millicent. It seemed she was seeing if she could use legilimency to confirm the story. "Oh, alright!" Daphne said, exasperated. "Come on, Granger! I can't have my pet be this dirty! We're going to the baths!"

"I don't suppose," Millicent started, "you'd believe us if I told you she already had one?"

"Absolutely not!" Daphne said. "I don't know what you did out there, but look at her hands! Look at her knees! Look at her arse!"

"Just because you do that as much as possible..." Millicent muttered.

"You be quiet!" Daphne retorted. "She needs to be washed and she needs some dittany on these welts! Come on, Granger, I'm taking you to the prefect's bathroom."