EDIT: i made a HUGE mistake, and had to change some things. I'm really sorry about that..i hate making mistakes, and apparently, i don't take them well. Hope things are clearer, otherwise, you have my permission to throw tomatoes at me. Sometimes I really have to check where my brain is at.

Crucial Point

"Knowing it might seem strange...

Love came over me

Feeling the luck has changed

Do you want me, like I want you?"

It was the next day and the news that Dennis Creevey had disappeared spread through the school very quickly. The Gryffindor House was now very alarmed that they were the victims of this whole ordeal. Most cowered in their rooms while others sent owls to their parents saying that they want to return home where they can be with their family. The Slytherins, on the other hand, could care less of everything that was happening. They were glad that they weren't the targets, and if they weren't involved, it didn't matter to them. Meanwhile, the teachers were doing everything in their power to find the intruder and prevent him or her from taking another one of their students.

"Harry, I think this has gone too far! They're taking us out one by one!" Ron exclaimed. They were walking towards their common room after grabbing a couple of plates of food to satisfy their growling stomachs.

"Yeah, I know," Harry agreed. "That's why we must follow Malfoy today and catch him before he goes any further."

"That's what I was thinking, but what if he's in his room? We don't have the password to get through."

"I'll think of something."

Just then, a scream erupted right behind them, which interrupted their conversation and made the two boys look at who caused it.

"What's wrong, Lavender?" Harry asked.

"L-look!" the girl said, shoving the newspaper she was reading to his face.

"Strange Disappearances Occurring: Reason Unknown," he read off the headlines.

"It's not happening only in Hogwarts; it's everywhere!" Lavender screamed.

"You think it's Malfoy?" Ron whispered to Harry.

The other boy ignored his question and read the rest of the article.

"Vanishings have been occurring throughout London and other cities around the world. Eyewitnesses described the victims as disappearing into thin air, leaving behind a mysterious black rose. Reason behind these incidents and this particular flower is still in question. A wife of one of the victims described her most unfortunate case.

'It was in the middle of the night, and we were just sleeping. At around 3am, I woke up because I was feeling thirsty. When I looked over at my husband, he wasn't there! I flipped over the sheets, and all I saw was a black rose. I figured he just left it there for me, but he didn't even leave a note. I didn't know where he would be at 3am in the morning since he never leaves my side! I heard another one of my friends had gone missing, and I just knew something was wrong! My husband has been gone for several days now, and I want to know where he could be!' the woman, also known as Mrs. Glystum, explained.

When asked for an explanation on these strange occurrences, the Ministry of Magic refused to answer, but suggested that if anybody witnesses the vanishings, please contact emergency services at once."

"I want my mum!" Lavender cried out and ran away. The two boys guessed she might've went to the Owlery to send a plea to her parents for her to return home, or hid in the Gryffindor Tower like the others.

"Me too," Ron muttered sheepishly.

"Don't worry, we'll find whoever is doing this and stop them before another person will be taken," Harry reassured.

"What about Malfoy? What are we going to do about him?"

"We'll still follow him since he might be the one that's behind the school attacks. Who knows, maybe his good-for-nothing father actually planned all of this."

"But why the black rose? Couldn't they have used something else less..." Ron paused to find the correct word, "feminine?"

Harry would've laughed at the way he said it, but right now wasn't a good time. "I don't know, maybe it's supposed to have some sort of meaning to it."

"It does."

They turned around to see who had responded, and faced Justin Finch-Fletchley.

"So?" Ron pressured for an answer, "What does it mean?"

"Death."

"Almost no one is walking along these corridors anymore. Doesn't it seem just so frightening and secluded?" Hermione asked.

"Hmm? Yeah," Draco agreed. They were walking along the halls to check for anything unusual, but Draco's mind was focused on something else – his father's letter.

"Isn't it strange? I mean, Hogwarts has never been through this before."

"Yeah." What could Father have possibly wanted to say?

"With the disappearances and all, everything is just out of order."

"Yeah." Could Father have any connection with all of this?

"Even the teachers don't have answers. That's just not right."

"Yeah." It could be possible, but for what reason?

"What do you think? You've been awfully quiet."

"Yeah." He's Voldemort's right-hand man, so there must be some sort of explanation of why people are suddenly vanishing.

"You're not even listening to me, are you?" Hermione asked, a bit annoyed that she was being ignored.

"Yeah." Voldemort hates Hogwarts, especially since Potter is here.

"You're a stupid, slimy, ugly scum-bag, you know that?" the brunette teased.

"Yeah." But could he have wanted something from me?

"Harry told me he loved me."

"Yeah." Maybe Father wanted me to join his side?

"Your hair's on fire."

"Yeah." That could be it, but – wait... what did she say??

"My hair's WHAT?!" Draco questioned loudly.

Hermione laughed as he fumbled to find his wand, desperately searching through his robes.

"Wait!" she paused for air but laughed again at the confused expression on his face.

"For crying out loud, woman! Stop that and help me!"

His demand was of no use since it only made her laugh even more.

"Where's my wand when you need it!"

"Wait!" she yelled out, taking in a deep breath of air. "I was only joking."

"What?!"

"You weren't listening to a word I was saying, and apparently, that was the only thing to get your attention."

"Oh Merlin," Draco sighed in relief. "Just don't do that again. My hair is NOT something you should joke about."

"Alright! I'm sorry."

"You know I WILL get you back for that later," he said, putting his arm around Hermione's waist, "But for now, what were we talking about?"

"No way."

"Yes way."

"That little thing-"

"Is the bearer of bad news."

"But how would you know?"

"Black is usually associated with death," Justin informed.

"So could it mean-"Ron inquired.

"They might be dead already," Justin paused. "Or there may be deaths in the future."

"We should do something quick," Harry whispered to Ron, and ran as fast as he could to retrieve his special cloak.

"What are you two doing?"

"We're going to stop whoever's doing this," the red-headed boy responded.

"So you figured out everything?"

"Maybe, but we don't have time! He may be fast in Quidditch, but he's no good in running!" Ron exclaimed.

"What is he trying to do?" Justin asked.

"Um... nothing. It's, uh, top secret," he muttered. As soon as he saw Harry in the distance, running back with the cloak in his hand, he quickly spoke to Justin. "Thanks for the information, mate, but we've got to get going. A friend may be in need."

"Good luck," Justin muttered as he watched the two boys run down the halls frantically.

Throwing the Invisibility Cloak over them, Harry and Ron ran down to the direction of the Heads' Tower to find Hermione. The journey there wasn't easy of course; the two boys kept bumping into each other since the cloak wasn't very large and they were overgrown teenagers. However, they arrived at their destination all in one piece.

"So, now what?" Ron asked. They were standing before a large portrait of a knight, and were figuring out how to get in.

"I don't know. We could try guessing their password."

"Like what?"

"Butterbeer?"

Nothing happened.

"Lizard's tails?"

"Try something else," Harry said.

"Fortuna major."

"Vanilla fresh."

"Wattlebird."

"Fairy wings."

"Pig snout."

"Pig snout?" Harry asked.

"I'm just trying anything that I can come up with!" Ron said defensively.

"Will you two just give up already!" the knight in the portrait shouted.

"Not until we get in!"

"Shh, Ron. I think they're coming," Harry whispered.

"Who?" the red-headed boy asked, but saw just in time to see the two people that they were looking for coming their way.

"That was the longest walk I've ever done," Draco complained.

"Stop your whining, it wasn't that much," Hermione argued.

"We could've taken the shortcuts! I don't know why you insisted on taking the long way."

"It's fun!" Hermione giggled and turned to the portrait. "Fizzing Whizbees."

"So THAT'S what it was!" Ron whispered.

"Be quiet or they'll hear you! C'mon let's go!" Harry muttered as they quickly followed the couple into their common room.

"You know, I wish that we didn't have to go through all of this. We're missing out on so much work," Hermione said, making herself comfortable on the couch.

"Is that all you think about? School? Where's all the excitement in your life?" Draco asked with sarcasm.

"School IS my excitement. You could learn so much!"

"That's our Hermione," Ron whispered, causing Harry to jab in the elbow to shut him up.

"Did you hear something?" the blonde Slytherin asked, looking around the room.

"No, why?"

"Never mind."

"You know, I've been thinking-"

"That's all you ever do," Draco teased.

Hermione gave him one of her looks but continued on. "I've been thinking about the disappearances lately and-"

"Can we not talk about that?"

"See, I knew it. He's behind all of this," Ron muttered.

"Shut up, Ron! They'll hear you!" Harry whispered back.

"There it is again! Did you hear that?" Draco asked, curiousity taking all over him.

"Maybe it's all in your head," Hermione replied but had a suspicious expression on her face. "So as I was saying, I was thinking about the disappearances and I think I've figured out something."

"What?"

"That Malfoy did it," Ron whispered.

"There's something that each of the victims have in common, and I think it might be crucial to the reason why the person might be doing this."

Draco's ears perked up. "And what's that?"

"They all are-"

She never got to finish her sentence.

"Hermione!!" the three boys screamed as they looked at the sight before them in fear.

A/N: Hmm..I think my whole story's getting pretty obvious, huh? After reading the reviews, some of you guessed it right on the dot! Oh, well :). Ermm..if there was anything confusing, just tell me. I won't be updating until next week, since I'll be on a 3-day trip this weekend right before school starts (booo!) but I'll post up the next chapter as soon as I can. But in the meantime, thank you to everyone who took the time to review my story! :D