A/N- Hope you like, it isn't as long as planned, but I think (hope) it's good anyway!

Chapter 12- The spoken Word

Harry walks up the staircase to the Gryffindor Common Room. Hermione is in her usual chair doing homework while Ron was playing a game of chess against Neville. He obviously seemed to be winning quite badly. Harry silently sneaks up to his dorm. Closing the drapes, he lies down on his four poster bed. He sighs heavily, lost in thought.

"Cho's right," he mutters to himself, "It is my fault. I've been lying to myself all summer. Everyone has been lying to me. Why didn't I do anything? Anything at all would have been better! I could have jumped him, no one else was around. I could have grabbed the cup again and left. Why didn't I stop him from killing Cedric?!?"

Harry lay there, emotionally stressed out. Hours go by and after awhile he realizes that he is late for the Quidditch announcements. He hurries out of his dorm to find an empty Common Room and heads for the Great Hall.

Dumbledore's magnified voice is faintly heard as Harry steps out of the portrait hole.

"Now, these are the House teams new members!"

Applause echoes throughout the castle. Harry's still running and is beginning to hear quite well what was being said.

"Now, when the new captains are named, please come forward! From Slytherin, Mr. Draco Malfoy!

Loud clapping fills the air as Harry reaches the Great Hall.

"From Ravenclaw, Miss Cho Chang!"

Harry slips into the Hall, somewhat unnoticed.

"From Gryffindor…." Dumbledore pauses, his blue eyes twinkling as everyone held their breath "Mr. Harry Potter!"

A bomb of noise erupts as Harry makes his way to the front, the last place he liked to be at the moment.

"Now," Dumbledore says, in a much quieter tone, his voice no longer magnified, "The Hufflepuff team, has decided to have no official captain, and duties shall be shared. Let's acknowledge the team also."

The Hufflepuff team stands up, and everyone claps softly for them. In a cheerier tone, Dumbledore says, voice once again magnified, "Let's acknowledge are new captains!"

Harry glances at Cho, who returns yet another cold stare. He knew what she was thinking. As walked back from the front, before parting to their separate tables, she whispers in his ear, "You know that should have be Cedric up there with us, as captain, but he's not, because of you."

Harry walks over to the Gryffindor table and is encircled by his teammates and friends, like each other captain was. They all congratulate him, and Harry puts on a fake smile, really not wanting to be here. As Fred gives him a friendly slap on the back, Harry uses this as his retreat. He doubles over and mutters the simple words "I don't feel so good" and takes off running. He pauses at the door and glances back at the Hufflepuff table and then the Ravenclaws' just to see, from the middle of her circle, Cho's icy stare watching his every move. One solitary teacher sees their eyes lock as Harry escapes through the door.

"He did look a little pale," Angelina says to a Katie Bell, who nods accordingly.

****

Running down the hallway, Harry tries to figure out where he can go. He wants to be alone. He needs to be alone. "I can't stay in the castle, they'll find me," he reasons. He runs up to the Common Room and up to his dorm. He yanks open his trunk and snatches his precious Firebolt. He rips open his bed and stuffs a pile of clothes on it, and covers it back over. He closes the drapes and thrusts the window open and flies out into the stormy night to the only lace where he could be truly alone- The Shrieking Shack.

****

Not even knowing himself why he thought of this particular spot, but here he was, his hair wet from the commencing rain, whipping his as he flew towards the Womping Willow. He pressed the special knot on the tree and through the tunnel he went, all the way to Hogsmeade's Shrieking Shack. He walks upstairs to the same room where he first met his godfather and Peter Pettigrew.

"He killed my parents," Harry fumed, "That little rat (hehe rat! Get it?) should be sitting in a cell in Azkaban!"

The anger now leaves him and depression flood back into him. "But so should I! Cho's right! I'm a murderer! IKILLED CEDRIC!" he screams as he falls onto the bed in the room.

"I suppose you did," a raspy voice whispers in his ear, "But soon you may be the murdered one!"

Harry suddenly bolts upright in a sitting position, not knowing what to do since he was still not thinking too clearly. Right away, Voldemort puts his plan into action.

****

Meanwhile, in the Great Hall, Ron and Hermione were beginning to worry. "Something strange is going on," Hermione says in a worried tone.

"I know. After the Quidditch try-outs he just stayed in his dorm."

"It's unlike him to miss something as important as the Quidditch announcements"

"Ron, go check on him."

"What? Why? What should I do?"

"As Prefect, I'm telling you to go and check you dorm to see if Harry is there," Hermione replies, with a note of authority in her voice.

'Yes ma'am," Ron sarcastically says. He heads off for Gryffindor Tower.

****

If Harry were listening to what was happening, he would have heard the faint "Imperio". A voice in the back of Harry's head kept telling to take out his wand.

Maybe it was from the state he was in, or just because he didn't care, he withdrew his wand, with no other voice telling him not too.

Voldemort was now directly behind Harry, with full control of him with his Imperious curse. A menacing grin spreads across his white snaked face as he mutters, "Point your wand at yourself, Harry."

Immediately, Harry does this without hesitation.

"Good. Now say Avada Kedavra, and imagine yourself lying lifeless on the bed."

Avada Kedavra

With an evil cackle, Voldemort conjures the Dark Mark up in the sky, above the Womping Willow, walks off the school grounds and disapparates as if he was never there.

****

Opening the door to their dorm, Ron sees the lump of clothes in Harry's bed which he mistake for his friend. He returns to the Great Hall. "He's sleeping," Ron explains to Hermione, "I guess he was feeling sick."

"I guess so," Hermione replies, not quite convinced.

With supper done, the students make their way up to their Common Rooms, since no one felt like going outside. The little rain that was going on during supper was now a downpour, and it threatened to turn into a thunderstorm.

"Do you think we should check on him?" Hermione inquires.

"Nah, if he's sick, he's sick. Best to leave him alone. Now take a load off and come play a game of exploding snap."

Reluctantly, Hermione actually takes the night off from homework and plays a few games of exploding snap and ends up playing a few games of wizards' chess as well.

After getting bored of that, she walks over to the window and gazes outside. He looks at the grounds, or what she could see of them, the rain making visibility very poor. She looks at the forest, the Lake, and the Womping Willow.

A bolt of lightening illuminates the sky and Hermione let's out a shrill scream, breaking the steady hum of chatter. At that moment, Fred, George, and Ron come to see what was wrong.

"Was it the lightning strike that scared you?"

"Are you afraid of storms?"

"N-n-no." Hermione points out the window and stutters "Th-Th- the D-D-Dark M-Mark"

Another flash of lightning strikes as the three look out the window. Their faces pale and they all freeze in fear.

After a few seconds, Hermione regains her composure and she starts whispering out orders. "Fred and George, if anyone asks, I was startled by the storm. Make sure no one looks out this window, keep them entertained if anyone tries to. No one panic. Ron, go check for Harry, I don't care if he's mad if you wake him up."

Ron runs upstairs to their dorm and throws the covers off Harry's bed to find him not there. Cussing, he vigorously opens Harry trunk to find his Firebolt gone. He looks over at the opened window, rain pouring in. "Dammit" he yells, dashing back down the stairs.

"Let no one leave, don't ask any questions, just do it!' Hermione yells at the other Prefects, surprised at Hermione's ferocity. They mutter a faint "ok" and leave her sight. Just then Ron comes panting beside Hermione. He grabs her arm and drags her outside the portrait and into the hallway.

"WHAT!" she exclaims, "He is gone? Ron, let's go, NOW!"

They rush off in the direction of Dumbledore's office. When they're about one hallway away, a cold voice from behind them mutters, "Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

They stop dead in their tracks and turn around to face their Potions master.

"Now what might you be doing out of your Common Rooms at this time of night?"

"Professor, we need to see Dumbledore."

"Oh, and I'm sure it couldn't wait?"

"No, it couldn't, Harry's gone and-

"He's out of bed too? More points from Gryffindor. I-

"SNAPE, SHUTUP AND LISTEN!" Hermione bellows.

"Miss Granger, that is no way to-

"I DON'T CARE! SHUTUP! HARRY'S BEEN MISSING SINCE SUPPER, HIS FIREBOLT IS GONE AND THE DARK MARK IS FLOATING IN THE SKY OUTSIDE!"

After hearing these words, his usual white face turning blank, Snape shuts up, totally ignoring the rudeness of the school's top student's reply, takes off down the hall, where he in turn bumps into the headmaster.

"Now, what in Merlin's name is the meaning for all this shouting?" the Headmaster demands as Snape, Ron, and Hermione appear at his feet.

"Sir," Snape says in between gasps for breath, "Potter- broom- gone, Dark Mark- in sky."

Dumbledore stiffens at these words, understanding exactly what Snape had said in those few words. "Ron, Hermione, thank you, but Common Rooms, now. Snape, Professors, Order of Phoenix, Entrance Hall, Now!"

The four head off in their separate directions, neither knowing what to expect or believe.

A/N- So do you like, do you like? I'm sorry it isn't as long as I thought it would be, but I figure this was a good place to end it off…sorry lil_angel_of_a_devil, I love cliffhangers MWUAHAHAHA! Ok, just kidding I'm not evil, or am I? Please tell me if you like, this was the most fun to write, so I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks go out to my beta-reader Wink At J00, she and her fics both rock! You should read em too! Also thanks go out to all the members of my guild! You guys know who you are! You guys are so great! Thanks so much! Also, I thank all my reviewers, without you, I may not have written this much! Your ideas, suggestions, and comments make me want to continue! Thanks a million!

Any questions? Comments? You cam e-mail me- dianahoule@hotmail.com

Flamers Accepted

Later~didihoulio