Ron, Harry and Ginny watched in horror as Hermione ran out of the room in tears. Ginny looked at Harry in shock. She got up from the table and ran after Hermione. “What the bloody hell did we say?” Ron inquired to Harry, who shot after Ginny. He sighed and joined in the chase. Harry was right. This is going to be a bloody hell of a year!

Chapter Three

Chapter Five

Chapter Seven.

Chapter Nine.

Chapter Eleven.

“I know… I know what it’s like,” Hermione said, tears rolling down her pink cheeks. She lightly kissed the back of Draco’s head. She loosened her grip around Draco and turned him around, silver eyes meeting hazel, both glistening and drowning in tears...

The sharp scream echoed in his head, the green spark of light blinding. He felt a deep pain in his chest, as if a dagger were being plunged into it. He felt himself shaking uncontrollably. There was an echoing voice repeating his name. He could feel the hot breath on his ear, tickling it in the slightest...

Hermione lifted her head from the snow and glanced at the flower. The rose still clutched tightly, she loosened her grip and opened her hand. Her palm was dripping of blood, onto the clean, white snow. Hermione again ignored the pain and clutched the rose tighter, lifting herself and urging herself to run forward, towards the lake. Drown away the pain.

Though Draco didn’t want to go back into the castle and let the haunting images of Blaise return to his mind, he knew that he had to save Hermione. What was done was done. Blaise Zabini, one of Draco’s best mates, was dead, and there was nothing he could do about it. As he looked back at the stone castle of Hogwarts with teary eyes, he knew he was making the right decision.

“T-tell her… Hermione th-that I’m… s-sorry I n-never said g-goodbye… T-tell her th-that I’m s-sorry I couldn’t… s-save her f-from…” Draco turned his face from Ron and closed his eyes. He took his last breath and made the knife tear past his skin and plunge deep into his chest, blood gurgling from the sides. "What have you done?" Ron cried as Draco's body fell limply to the ground...

He turned to his window and gazed up at the silver moon. His dark and mysterious eyes seemed to call out to the wind as a small, black bat fluttered toward the open window and clung to the man’s arm with its feet, hanging upside down. The man took a finger and tickled the bat’s belly. “Oh yes, my pet, there will be blood.”

“I’m not here to chat, sweetheart,” he said and leaned forward to cup Ginny’s chin in his hand. “I’m here, my dear, to kill you.” Ginny abruptly pulled away from his cold touch and stared at him with frightened eyes. She opened and closed her mouth many times, unable to find her voice. She broke his gaze and glanced at the floor, noticing that there was a trail of a red substance from where he had been walking. She squinted and looked closer, realizing that it was blood...

Wandless, Hermione’s eyes stretched as Xavier began to charge towards her with his own wand pointing out. Letting out a shrill scream, she leaped out of the way as Xavier neared her, her feet tangling up in each other and causing her to fall to the cold stone floor. Her knees and palms ached as she tried to push herself back up, but Xavier, growling in rage, pushed his foot on her back and she collapsed to the floor. He dug the tip of his wand into the back of her neck and let out a small, half–hearted laugh. “Game over, Hermione.”