Harry drew in a shuddering breath and counted to ten, closing his eyes whilst he did so. A figment of his imagination. That's all it had been….right?

He looked again, fearful of what he might see, but no longer did Cedric stand in front of him, shadowed eyes staring deep into his. He sighed partly in relief, partly in fear. His whole body was still shaking. Cursing himself, and cursing his stupid thoughts, he reached for his wand, drawing it close to his chest, and carefully stood, still warily glancing in a few directions.

Had it been a trick? Or was he really just imagining things?

He wracked his brains for any information from books he had read, about magical creatures and what they could do….

A boggart?

No. Definitely not. It had been….too real. Maybe it was just…a memory. He chuckled in spite of himself, a bitter laugh, too cold to be classed as humour, then stopped, regretting it.

He began to walk again, heading off in a new direction. His hair was ruffled slightly from earlier, and he shakily ruffled it again, in more of a habit then anything else. Again, there was nothing but bushes ahead. He turned corners, changed routes, but still, there was nothing. And he was beginning to grow seriously frustrated.

"How the hell do I get out of here…?" he muttered under his breath, eyes scanning the dark pathways.

"You follow the shadows."

Harry whipped around, wand out in front of him in a moment, feverishly looking around for the source of the voice. There was nothing. He quietly lowered his wand arm, eyes burning.

The shadows? What the…

He felt slightly nervous now. Seeing dead people. Hearing voices. This couldn't be good for him. The corner's of his mouth tilted upwards slightly, approving of his secret joke, glad to have maintained some sense of humour. But that happiness was quickly replaced by fear as he glanced to his side, sensing a movement. He was getting sick of this.

"Show yourself!" he yelled, irritated. Something behind the bushes stopped moving, as did the small noises. He frowned in confusion, and stepped closer. The air around him seemed to grow colder…

That felt familiar.

He mused over this for a second, before silently holding out his wand again.

"Lumos."

Barty clenched and unclenched his fists, trying to calm himself. Harry was doing fine. He would get through it….

But he had seen the look on Harry's face earlier. It hadn't been a good one. He tried to kid himself that the fear had been just a false emotion…but suppose it hadn't…? Then what?

He felt like torturing one of the Death Eaters standing near him. The certain one to his left kept moving about, and Barty was starting to feel uncomfortable himself. And he never felt uncomfortable.

He sighed and twirled his wand in his left hand, earning a nervous look from the person beside him. He smirked and tucked it beneath his robes again, sensing the Death Eater relax. The idiot.

"Barty."

He turned to see the Dark Lord motioning him over. Glad for a reason to leave the group of fools, he quickly headed over, his feet practically skimming the ground as he did so. When he finally reached Voldemort, he bowed, and then stood straight again, only to be given a respectful nod from the Dark Lord. Inside he grinned, because He was in a good mood….or so it appeared…

Knowing the Dark Lord could easily fool anyone, Barty refused to let himself relax, still feeling the slight tingle of pressure and expectation crackling in the air between them. The Dark Lord acknowledged this, and began to speak, his cold voice cutting through the silence like knives, his tone calculating.

"It has come to my attention recently that The Creature is not working to its full potential."

Barty frowned, and looked towards the mid-air screen, watching as Harry's nervous yet agitated face directed towards a few bushes.

"…My Lord, forgive me for saying, but anymore of…that…may permanently affect Harry."

Voldemort laughed icily, glimmering eyes not leaving Barty's face for a second. Barty returned the look.

"The transeo must heighten. I expect it to."

Barty shuddered at the name, and nodded slightly, disgusted with himself. He bowed for a moment and walked off, brown eyes slightly worried, before apparating away.

Voldemort watched him go, his face expressionless, before pulling out a small book from under his cloak, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as a familiar presence made itself apparent. Turning, he watched as a snake slid towards him, eyeing him with a certain respect.

Nagini looked up towards him, almost a smile on her snake features as well.

"I have a job for you, my friend."

Voldemort spoke quickly, and Nagini nodded, understanding almost at once what she had to do.

"Tredecim."

Voldemort spoke in parseltongue, hoping to avoid his servants overhearing. But this did not stop Nagini drawing back slightly, her expression surprised.

"You are sure?"

"I am always sure."

Nagini laughed and moved away, leaving Voldemort with his thoughts. Potter would be challenged.

Sirius sighed as he sat down in the Great Hall, causing a few witches to look round at him. He glanced over at them, with little interest, only a spark of curiosity in his eyes, before turning to Dumbledore, who was now sat beside him.

"No." he said, rather bluntly.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled slightly in surprise and suspicion.

"Why not, Sirius?"

"Because…she might get hurt."

Dumbledore sighed, and also glanced over at the few witches sitting in a small group on the Ravenclaw table.

"Sirius, Sarah has been trained as an auror. She has learnt many tracking abilities, many spells and rare curses, and more importantly, can look after herself. Do not deny her the privilege of what she wants to do."

Sirius frowned, his expression darkening.

"We hardly know anything about her. She could be working for Voldemort for all we know. She already has a brother who is a Death Eater….surely that is enough to prove that-"

Dumbledore held up his hand, speaking calmly.

"Yes, Sirius. She does have a brother who is already a Death Eater. This is why she is perfect for it. The connections and links she has with the Death Eaters can lead to Voldemort…which you also know will lead to…"

"Look, Albus. I'm not being rude. I just don't want her getting involved. Besides, we don't even know if Voldemort has Harry."

Those words made Sirius feel like his tongue was on fire, not wanting to admit that Voldemort may possibly have Harry in his clutches. It wasn't possible. Not an option. Feeling a presence near him, he turned only to find a curious looking Remus looking down at him.

"Voldemort has Harry?"

Sirius sighed and shook his head in annoyance.

"No! He doesn't."

Remus sat down, confusion evident on his face.

"But I thought you just said that-"

"No, Remus. I didn't.

"Oh."

Sirius sat, fuming for no apparent reason, whilst Dumbledore nodded politely to Remus. Remus returned the gesture, and looked at Sirius, before turning back to the headmaster.

"If you don't mind me asking, what was it that you were talking about?"

Dumbledore smiled slightly and adjusted his spectacles, contemplating Remus for a moment.

"Of course I don't mind. And yes, I will inform you."

Remus relaxed a little as Dumbledore began to talk.

"An auror, Sarah has agreed to help in the search for Harry." Dumbledore motioned with his hand towards the group of witches, particularly looking at a brunette woman, examining her wand. "Although we do not know for sure Voldemort has Harry, it is still-"

"Unlikely. Impossible." Interrupted Sirius.

"-a possibility." Carried on Dumbledore, raising his eyebrows at Sirius, who continued to stare at the table, arms crossed in clear defiance.

"Sarah has a brother who is a Death Eater. Unfortunately, she has not been in contact with him for a long time, but if this connection was to be established again, it may be possible that Sarah can find the location of Voldemort and discover if he has Harry."

Dumbledore paused for a moment, clearly in deep thought, and Remus took his chance to speak.

"Surely this is dangerous for her."

"Exactly!" exclaimed Sirius, nodding in agreement. "If we agree with this, it's like signing her death certificate. And if Voldemort doesn't even have Harry, there would be no point to it all, and she would have gone through all of that for nothing."

Dumbledore shifted slightly in his seat, and watched both of the men talk, before replying.

"Sirius. Remus. Just because you both cannot take this mission on yourselves, it does not mean someone else can't as well. The important thing is finding out Harry's whereabouts. Do not hold other people back, just because you think it upon yourselves to find your godson."

A stunned silence followed, Sirius and Remus both frozen in thought, before Sirius began to speak again.

"You….you think that we're being selfish?" he choked, holding back his anger.

Dumbledore merely looked back at him, causing Sirius to falter and avert his gaze.

"I understand that the both of you wish to find Harry. I understand you both want to be there for him. I also understand that you love him immensely. But these are not enough reasons to stop believing that others cannot do as well as you might be able to."

Remus sighed and leant back, his face darker, and Sirius seemed to do the same, his eyes shadowing over slightly. They both looked up as a figure came closer.

"Albus?"

The witch, Sarah, looked down at the headmaster, who looked up at her, smiling.

"Yes, Sarah. You may take on the mission if you so wish. I have discussed with the godfathers. They are all right with it."

Sirius and Remus both sharply looked up, eyes shining defiantly at Dumbledore's twinkling orbs, who looked back at them, his face calm. Sarah, nodded at them before walking away, back to the group, who instantly bundled around her, chattering excitedly about something.

Dumbledore turned to Sirius and Remus.

"It has to be done."

Harry took a hesitant step backwards as something emerged from the bushes, and froze, his eyes widening as a few pieces of grass near him, turned to ice.

Ice…?

The familiar sensation of being drained made him swallow nervously, and he wildly looked around, as the maze seemed to become darker, blackness slowly engulfing him.

Not good…

A few figures glided through the darkness from either side of the maze, and he raised his eyebrows, hardly daring to believe what he was seeing.

A scream erupted in his mind, and he clutched his head in pain, backing away.

He had never been a great fan of dementors.

Authors Note: Okay, first things first, sorry for not updating in a while. I've been extremely busy, and my laptop internet connection crashed a few days ago, making it impossible for me to write anything or update. I literally wrote most of this chapter today, so Im also sorry if there are errors and stuff. I might rewrite if its really bad.

But anyway, this chapter isnt exactly great, because the main plot is a few chapters away, and I've had to stall for a while. I've added a new character though, which should be fun to write later on, and hopefully the next chapter shouldnt be far away. I've started to write it already. Again, Im sorry for the wait. I will try and update faster, but please, feel free to review and stuff. I'll update as soon as I can.

x X x gothlyssa x X x