The Gryffindor common room was filled with students. All gathered together and gossiping about their days. The fire place was alight and the chairs that surrounded it were occupied by gryffindorians of all sizes. Scrambling through the portal into the common room, arms laden with books, Hermione Granger looked around for her friends. Shaking her bushy hair off her shoulders she walked towards her dorm room to return her books, but was halted by Lavender Brown, a fellow sixth year student.

"Oi, Hermione. Have you heard what happened? McGonagall is in the hospital wing and no one seems to be able to revive her." Excited whispers rose around the room.

"What do you mean? What happened?" queried, a confused Hermione.

"Apparently when she was teaching one of the seventh year classes, and she just collapsed in front of the class" "Well, I heard that one of the Slytherin boys cast a spell on her." "That's just dumb. How could they overcome Professor McGonagall. I spoke to some of the Ravenclaw girls and they said she was stung by a magical bee." "That's ridiculous."

As the girls continued to fight about their stories, Hermione felt worried and became determined to find out the truth. Absent-mindedly dropping her heavy books to the ground, she turned and ran out of the common room. Running past several students along the way, Hermione made her way done the west end stairs. Coming to the end she hurriedly turned right. Only to run straight into another person. Hermione's head banged against the thin girl's sharp shoulder and the girl flew backwards with a small squeal. Shaking her head to clear the stars that were appearing in front of her eyes, Hermione stood up and jogged over to the blonde haired girl. Picking her up underneath the arms, Hermione managed to lift the girl to a standing position. Apologising profusely, Hermione started to check for damage. The girl looked up at Hermione, and smiled shakily. Looking into the girl's deep brown eyes, Hermione realised that the girl was Madeline Bloom, a fellow prefect. Madeline gave a small shrug and was about to turn away when she noticed the anxious look on Hermione's face. Hermione gave a forced smile and began striding away, her black cloak flapping behind her.

"It was a black rose." Called Madeline. "If that's what your trying to find out."

Hermione spun around so quickly that lines appeared in front of her eyes. "What did you say?"

"Professor McGonagall. You heard about it right? Well, it was during my transfiguration class. Our class had to change a piece of string into a flower and McGonagall was assessing us. But when she picked up the black rose, she collapsed and now it seems no one can revive her."

" A black rose?" Hermione's face was drained of colour. The black rose first appeared around thirty years ago. It would appear when a powerful wizard had been slain. The flower was Lord Voldemort's calling card. "Harry. I need to find Harry." She thought desperately to herself. Spinning around once more she started to jog away. Behind her a small voice called, "It was Cho. Cho was the one who created the black rose."

"Cho Chang? But. how.why?"

Sprinting down the seemingly endless hallways of the castle, Hermione pondered the week since Harry and Cho broke up. Cho seemed extremely melancholic and lifeless. She had previously believed this was due to the stress of upcoming exams and the relationship breaking, but now she wasn't too sure. Many strange things seemed to be happening around Cho lately. First the Whomping Willow incident, then Madame Pomfrey, and now Professor McGonagall. The first two incidents had been eerily unexplainable but the last, was downright dumbfounding. "A black rose. Those flowers were only used by Voldemort to mark all of his killings. How could Cho have created Voldemort's flower. And why?" These thoughts pounded into her mind as she continued to search for her best friend, Harry. Entering the great hall, Hermione spotted her boyfriend, Ron Weasley. "Ron! Have you seen Harry? I really need to talk to him." Urged Hermione.

"Yeah, he said he was going to go see Cho. See if she was alright. Yunno after what happened to McGonagall. Didya hear about.?"

Hermione didn't stay for the rest of Ron's speech. She ran back out of the Great Hall screaming, "Can't talk now, gotta find Harry!"

Despair grew stronger in her chest. This puzzled Hermione greatly because she didn't really understand why she was so worried. All she knew was that she had to find Harry. Panting desperately for breath, Hermione continued sprinting around the school until she found Harry Potter, standing at the edge of the great lake. Halting suddenly in front of Harry, Hermione nearly collapsed. Grabbing his shoulder for support, Hermione sucked in great gulps of air.

"Harry! I found you! Have you heard what happened to McGonagall? Did you know Cho made the flower that caused it? Did you know it was a black rose? Do you know what black roses signify?" burst Hermione, in a long breath.

Puzzled, Harry shook his head slightly before replying. "Of course I heard what happened. But I wouldn't worry about it too much if I was you. Madame Pomfrey will take care of her. Right now I'm more worried about Cho.What was that about a black rose?"

"The black rose was created by Voldemort. He used it to mark all the powerful wizards that he killed. And when she was in transfiguration class, Cho created the black rose. When McGonagall picked it up, it pricked her and she fell unconscious. Don't you think it's strange that Cho would create Voldemort's rose? And what do you mean you're worried about Cho?" Hermione hurriedly explained.

"I can't find her. I looked for her when I found out what happened but I couldn't find her. I think she's gone missing."

"Don't you think it's strange all the things that's been happening around her? The Whomping Willow, Madame Pomfrey, the black rose and now she's disappeared."

"What are you trying to say? That somehow Cho and Voldemort are connected? That she's doing all this to some how get at me? That's utterly ridiculous."

" How well do you really know Cho? I mean, who are her parents? Do you know anything about her past? All I'm trying to say is that we shouldn't ignore these warning signs. The black rose."

Sick of Hermione's irrational ranting Harry turned away in disgust. "The most important thing for me to do right now is find Cho. I have to make sure she's alright." Walking away from Hermione, Harry was suddenly struck with an image. A blurry black and white image of Cho. She was sitting on the leaf covered floor of the forest. Tears pouring down her face. Even though there was no sound, Harry could see that she was crying out to someone, pleading with them. Then a flash of lightning flew from a wand hitting Cho, straight into her chest. Her frail body shook with violent tremors, then stopped. Her eyes, were wide but emotionless and Harry knew that Cho was dead.

"No..! I have to find Cho! I have to find her before it's too late." Terrified and shocked Harry ran past Hermione across the grounds. As he looked up to the sky, a green flash of light shot from the forest. It reached up and pierced the sky above, erupting into a glittering dark mark.

Harry began to run faster towards the forest. Then, a bone-shattering scream pierced the air.

"Cho!"