Dearest readers,

I am SO SORRY that I have not written in quite some time... please forgive me. You see, I have a job at Texas Intruments and it keeps me quite busy! However, I do hope that you will forgive me. And for waiting this long you all deserve a dozen roses. So there.This chapter is dedicated to Loonie Potter.

My compliments and apologies to you fellow writers,

The Empress of Whispers

The Thirsty: Chapter Three

It is a very strange thing, to walk in the dark; but when we are surrounded by a circle of friends, we find that it is fun and not scary. When one walks in the dark alone however, they find themselves in such fear that it blinds them like a fog from the comforting reality that there may not actually be a reason to fear. But for young Harry here, there may be something to fear after all because not only was he walking in the dark cold and alone, he was walking in a dark forrest cold and alone. At times like this it is good to imagine a nice butter beer or sing a song, but Harry could not do either because his fear had stopped him. Poor Potter didn't even have a clue as to where he was going. This sounds miserable, does it not? Well it was, so if you do not misery please click the back button on your internet browser and read a nice story about Ron and Hermione or Sirius and Remus. This is a warning I am giving you.

In this story you will find happy moments, trying moments, tough moments, and yes indeed you will find sad moments. So if you like happy little stories where nothing goes wrong, get out of this story immiediately. I do not want to be blamed for your agony over a simple story. I wish I could tell you happy things, but alas I am supposed to tell it like it happened and that I shall do.

Back to Harry and his terribly unfortunette situation, he was walking with little steps and tripping with pretty much every one of them. There was a deep mist in the woods and so he could not see the ground. Thus, he tripped over several rocks and plants. I suppose from reading other stories and accounts of him, you believe that he was a brave little boy. As much as it pains me to tell you this, I must say it anyway. You have been mislead. For Harry Potter was no brave boy, he was just worried over what needed to be done rather than what would happen. He worried for everyone but himself. Harry was not couragous, he was merely kind-hearted. Selflessness and bravery are often mistaken and if you were misguided, you now know the truth.

Anyhow, ther Potter boy was walking slowly, if walking at all. And it was then he was starting to hear a rustling of leaves and saw a pair of deep silver eyes shimmering from the distance. At once he was afraid and stood still, as he had been told in the muggle world that predators like bears and lions would pass you by if you were still. The eyes grew closer and closer, the rustling louder and louder. And with each footstep the creature made, there was an echoing sound in Harry's mind. Soon enough he was shaking in his boots and closing his eyes. Whatever was coming made a growl and grabbed Harry in an unspeakably gentle manner. Were you surprised? So was he. It was a hand that grabbed his hand... if you could call that grabbing. Harry took the small amount of time to feel the hand and gasped at once when he noticed the astonishing fact that it was a young woman's hand. It was soft, gentle, warm, and the perfect thing for his frightened soul. Slowly, a deep but kind voice caused Harry's spine to tingle and the cool air to mist, "I know who you are, where you are heading and why. But I do not know why the gargoyles didn't take you. Would you mind telling me why?"

The trees were getting thinner, a sure sign that they were almost through to the other side, or so Harry thought. But he answered the mysterious woman's question and asked a question of his own, "Their leader died. After that, the clan seemed weaker. Would you mind telling me why a woman like yourself is walking through this forrest?" The lady froze stiff for a moment and then shook something off. Apparently she was upset. Harry made the assumption that his question bothered her, so he was silent and did not ask anything else. However, assumptions are almost always wrong. Just like that one. The journey after that was silent, and the woman seemed to know the forrest very well, for they were almost at the end of it. Out of no where, her voice quietly rang out into the cold, "My breed." This puzzled the boy who lived deeply, "Pardon?" "My breed. You asked me why I was in this forrest and I said my breed. You see, we, like the gargoyles can't live in the sunlight. The difference is that we don't turn to stone in the light, we die. As you can guess, some wizards don't like that and so they wish to kill us all off. Over time my breed has learned the smell of you wizard and witch kind. We can smell you from miles away to see if you are a threat. I caught your scent from where I live and so I came here. That is why I am in this forrest."

The teenage hero was struck with even more confusion, is she smelled him, how did she know him? At this, the lady chuckled, as though reading his thoughts, "No. I will not tell you how I know you," she chuckled even harder, "But it is a good thing that you are asking. It shows a strength in charecter somehow." Soon enough, there was visible moonlight and Harry saw that they had reached the edge of the forrest. The woman stopped and Harry pulled her around rather rudely, to catch a glimpse of her face, which to his shock was familiar. He knew this woman from somewhere, but where? Was it school? Was it home? How did he know this woman? She grinned and exposed a pair of glistening fangs, "No. I will not tell you that," her voice grew especially soft, almost like a whisper, "Stop asking." The boy nodded and the woman quickly turned to point to a gravel road, causing her golden hair to swish a little, "You see that road? Follow it all the way until you reach a three way fork in the road." He nodded and ran to the beggining of the road, "But where will I turn?" The lady laughed and shouted, "I'm sure you'll find a way!" After that she sauntered off and Harry instantly remembered where he had met this woman. A flashing memory struck his mind and he saw the ballroom of the gargoyles and the dancing illusional crowd. She was the masked woman he could not place! He saw the memory of her twirl and then as soon as he'd seen it, it was gone. He'd met this enchanting female twice but still he could not place her! After that he made a promise to himself that some day soon he would know where he knew that lady and walked down the road she had placed him on.

A/N: Whew! Short chapter, I know! But that was just where I had to end it... you get it? I just finished reading this over and noticed that my style for this chapter has been influenced by Mr. Lemony Snicket. Did you realize that? Odd. Thank you all for reading! Please review!

My compliments to you fellow writers,

The Empress of Whispers

Loonie Potter: Save me a tissue!

PouringRainDrops: Yeah- I can't picture them as gargoyles either.

Lily390: Thanks! No problem!