Chapter three: You are the key. 

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"Life-the way it really is-is a battle not between Bad and Good but between Bad and Worse"-Joseph Brodsky

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Sometimes things don't work out the way you planned. It's not your fault… it's completely out of your control. Just take deep breaths, and go with what you got. Cause there's no use sitting around waiting for the day you're happy. Happiness is not a gift - it's a decision.

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It was that moment, staring at you as you explained my destiny that I realized that things can never be good when they flow from a corrupted mouth. I realized that power only leads to the want of more power. That death will follow close behind. I realized that good, if there is such a thing, is trapped. And that this battle is between hate and only more hatred, between sadness and only more… between dark and the darker…

And I could only stare as you poured out your thoughts that would sent us spiraling to the closest place to hell…

~

Draco didn't know what to think. He didn't know what to do, how to act, how to respond to this wizard, whom he had been told would kill anyone at the flick of a wrist. Kill, without batting an eye, without the guilt, without the cause. Draco looked up into the face of a young man and saw none of this evil.

"So, Draco, I take it you don't know why you are here?" Tom asked casually, leaning against the stone wall, glancing out the window next to him. His edges seemed to glow with the foggy light coming through the glass.

"All I know is that I am finally of age to choose my path as your follower. Finally old enough to become a DeathEater, I was brought here to meet the man I will be serving."

"Well, forget everything you've been fed the last seventeen years of your life. I'm about to set things straight."

Draco nodded, not to sure what the man before him was implying. He was supposed to forget everything? Forget the rules of the dark powers; forget that the man before him was the strongest of them all, forget that his father groveled at the feet of a man who didn't seem that intimidating but that soon, he would too…

"The first thing you must know is that this world is going through its turning point. It will no longer be ruled by the forces of light. This is the age of darkness and yet it is the age when all is revealed. Everyone will know of us." Voldemort swept his hand out, indicating to the wizards in the room. "Every one of those Mudbloods out there will know that he or she is a lowlier being. That we wizards and witches are… there is no word, Draco. We are like Gods and yet they still do not know of us. But they will, and you and I shall see to that. You do understand, don't you boy?"

Draco nodded, "yes, I understand, but why am I so important? Why am I the one who will help you?"

"You are the only one who could help. I don't know why, but the ancient texts say you are the key."

~

I waited for the day I would be happy…I waited for the day all would be fine and perfect in my life. It never came and I wondered why through many a dark night. Finally I figured it out…

~

I hope he's okay, was the only thought that rushed through Hermione Granger's head. Harry had a huge head start, but she wasn't resting at all, hoping that she would catch up with him. She had road the train as far into the Scottish country side as she could. Now, her day found her trampling through the forest.

Her breath came out in ragged gasps. Fog swirled around her feet like snakes meaning to hinder her journey. Trees and limbs smacked her in the face and arms, leaving small blood trickles. The musky smell of the forest, of the trees, of the mold seemed to fill her, overwhelming her.

Above her, birds cackled and singed their way through the day. The heat and the humidity of the forest crashed down on her like the weight of a thousand lives, like all her problems sitting on her shoulders.

Hermione continued to run, through forest, spaces of open field and back into the dense foliage of the forest. It felt like she had been running for hours when finally she collapsed to her knees, panting. Her breathing was loud in quiet stillness of the forest. The birds were still singing somewhere off in the distance. Faint chirpings of bugs unknown to her filled her ears. She glanced around her, taking in her surroundings. She hadn't really thought the plan through when she took off for Hogwarts on foot. Was it possible to run to Hogwarts?

She pondered the question as she relaxed against a tree, resting her tired legs. Massaging sore muscles, she stared at the canvas of leaves. Sunlight streaked through, littering the ground with patches of light. The light seemed to dance, twist, and tumble around the shadows as the branches waved, whispering.

It must have been close to sunset, she thought and began to hum a soft tune. Slowly it caused her to drift off to sleep, dreaming of white knights and dragons. Fairy tale endings and rescuing those in need…

~

Harry sat next to the camp fire, warming his hands and using it to keep the monsters at bay. He had reached the Forbidden Forest. He knew it the moment he entered. It was murkier than any other forest he had been through thus far. The inhabitants were also quite different from the others.

This was the first time he had allowed himself to sit down and truly think on what he was doing instead of focusing mainly on his destination. He hoped Hermione received the letter and he hoped she was safe and sound in her bed. He hoped Ron was still on vacation and still having all the fun he can have, without worry about what was going on here.

Lastly, he hoped Lupin, Dumbledore and the rest of the Order were safe and alive. If Voldemort had killed them…

Harry knew in that moment that if any of them had been harmed, revenge would become his life.

With a deflated sigh, he picked up a twig and began to poke at the fire, resting his head upon his bended knee. In the silence of the night, he heard a rustling of leaves. Harry rose to his feet, but it was too late.

Four dark silhouettes jumped from the woods, throwing a bag over his head. Instantly, he was engulfed in darkness. The only sounds he could hear as he struggled to escape were the quick rush of his breathing and the muffled pounding of his heart.

Rough hands fumbled to tie his arms behind his back and he could do nothing to stop them. A cackled laugh and then a voice, rough as if from too many years smoking, "Lord Voldemort will be pleased."

"I agree; he would have never expected such a rare treat as this to show up as a result from such a simple patrol."

"Malik, your sentences are too wordy, usual." It was a joke Harry did not find as funny as the three men around him.

The last thing he heard before he was knocked unconscious was the cackling laughter of the three men who had captured him.

~

It is because I waited… Happiness is not something that comes to one. Happiness, like evil, is a seed planted in the heart that either blossoms or withers. And mine it seemed had died from the lack of attention, had died from the wait.

But I will feed what I've got, and this shriveled heart of mine with beat again.

~

Okay, sorry if it seems like my chapters take longer to get out and I know they are short. But, I don't have much time to write now days, with school and all. They just cram the homework on, not caring. Lol. I've got, like, six projects. I suppose I should be working on, but I figured I would get this out, besides I'm tired of staring at all the work. The numbers, the questions, it's tiring.

Anyway, review, they help me to keep writing. And I love them, what writer doesn't like comments on her work.

So, have a good day/night/evening.

My goal is 23, or if not, at least twenty before I can post the next chapter.