And here is chapter 4. Here, Harry has to cope with Sirius's untimely death and avoid whatever lies in the forest.

Also, pointed out by placebo13: Why does Hermione begin plotting with Harry and Ron if she is the best friend of Ginny? Well I never actually wrote it, but the trio plus Ginny in this story are all best friends – however, Ginny is the youngest. So they don't think it would be appropriate for her to accompany them – she's only 16, after all. I hope that clarifies it? Hermione, Ron and Harry are above their standards as magicians in this fic.

Oh and for the record; I didn't want to do the separation thing for schooling either, but I thought that since Tom Riddle is portrayed the way he is in this story, he would do something along the lines of that.

Also, you guys stated that I should get a Beta reader? Well I will try….but I'm trying my hardest in trying to make it seem like these are, indeed, medieval characters.

So I also want to do this thing every time I start a new chapter. It's going to be called "Current song" in which I state the current song I am listening to as I write this chapter (:

Current song: "Mind Heist" by Zachary Hemsey (Inception Trailer Music); which was really fun to write this fic too since there is plenty of action!

They had reached a deep part of the forest, it seemed – Harry could not tell, he had never been to woodlands area. But all he knew was that he, Ron and Hermione were safe, away from King Tom. But something struck him. Sirius was dead. He had crumbled to dust right before Harry's eyes. Faded into nothingness, and Harry could not do anything to change that.

"Is Hermione awake?" he asked Ron thickly. Ron was still carrying Hermione, who's chest was moving up and down; a sign of life.

"No," said Ron. "Whatever that woman did to her, she did it well. But Harry, are you alright? You have not spoken since we escaped."

Harry could no longer hide his pain. "Sirius," he said thickly. "Sirius is dead."

"What – how?" Ron said disbelievingly. "I thought he –"

"Riddle killed him," Harry said. "He and that lady – that –"

"Lady Lestrange," Ron finished. "Dad's told me about her. She's Riddle's accomplice. She works for him, she kills people who know not of the information she and Riddle seek."

Harry shook his head. "Sirius … I could not do anything to stop it."

"You're right," Ron said. "So it is not your fault, and you are not one to blame."

"Riddle came looking for me!" he said hotly.

Ron looked taken aback, but said, "And did you know that?"

"I – no," he admitted.

Hermione shuffled in Ron's arms, and her eyelashes fluttered. She opened her eyes and looked at Ron curiously.

"Harry – she is awake!" Ron said triumphantly, and he laid Hermione on the forest floor.

"Ron? Harry?" she said feebly. "What … what happened?"

"We escaped," Harry said. "You, Ron and I – Riddle tried to kill us. We're in the woodlands now."

She smiled weakly. "At least we are safe. What happened to me?"

"Riddle's accomplice, Bellatrix, stunned you with some spell. How do you feel?"

"I will pull through," Hermione admitted. "I can't really feel my legs, but I think I will be alright. Is everyone else alright?"

At this Harry tried his hardest to hold back tears. "No…Sirius….Sirius is dead."

Her eyes widened and her smile vanished immediately. "What?"

"Sirius – Riddle ordered him dead, because he would not reveal anything about me," Harry said.

Hermione's widened eyes suddenly sparkled with threatening tears. "So…so what do we do now?"

"I say we continue until we can find civilization," Ron said. "We've got to stop Riddle, one way or another, before he stars killing everyone else."

Harry was determined to change the subject. He, out of the three of them, felt most shattered ever since Sirius's death not too long ago. "Can you walk, Hermione?"

"I – I think so, yes," she said, grabbing on to Ron for support.

"Do you know any nearby cities or towns?" Harry asked Hermione, trying to prevent his voice from coming off as shaky.

"No," she said. "I left all my books at home. But anywhere in the country out of Riddle's reach will tend to have some books regarding the Godric Touch – I'm certain of that."

"I love you, Hermione," Ron said, relieved. Hermione blushed furiously.

"We'll have to find some sort of transportation then. We can't walk the whole way," Harry said.

"We could perform a dissaparation, perhaps?" Ron suggested.

"We don't know anywhere to dissaparate to," Hermione pointed out. "Muggle & Burrow is all I've been to my entire life. But we cannot risk going back there."

"We'll have to walk," Harry said. "Until we can find a way to get there faster."

"Alright," Ron said. "But civilization can't be that far can it?"

-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-

"When…you said…we'll have to walk…" Ron said, or rather panted, "how…far…did you…mean?"

Harry glared daggers but instead turned to Hermione, panting slightly as well. They were still surrounded by trees, and Hermione lead the way, the most energized out of the pair of them even though she had been the only one stunned and was wearing a dress.. "Do you know where we are going?"

"Not quite," she said, picking up her dress as they crossed a log. "But we should be close…I can just feel it."

"Well I feel tired," Ron said. "And we are in the middle of the woodlands without any food or water."

"It's not like I can make it appear out of thin air," Hermione said. "That is impossible because of –"

"Nobody asked," Ron said defensively.

The pair continued to walk, Ron slightly lagging behind, Harry staring at his feet as they walked, and Hermione looking left to right in search of civilization. Harry could nearly swear that he saw the same tree; they were going in circles. Ron made no effort in navigation and Hermione's navigation skills were actually very poor.

"Come on, let's go," Hermione said, loosening her brown corset in the process.

"Hermione, I don't mean to offend, but we met up with this tree an hour ago," Ron panted, finally adding some help to the problem.

"Well, you try memorizing an entire country map!" she snapped. "I am trying my very best and all you have been doing is complaining of lack of food and water!"

"I am not suggesting you do memorize one!" Ron said. "But you are the only one out of all of us who has seen and studied one –"

"Well how was I to know what situation we would be thrown in?"

"I am not saying that, I am simply stating that –" he was suddenly caught off guard as a slick, snake-like rope tightened around his ankle and pulled him back, so that he fell on his back – he screamed and writhed as the rope dragged him, seeming to pull him back –

"Ron!" Harry was first to run after him and Hermione lifted her dress and followed in pursuit – "Ron! Ron!"

"Harry – Hermione – HELP!" he screamed out, his arms reaching out in effort –

"RON!" Hermione screamed, as she and Harry raced to stop what seemed like a very strong rope –

"Gotcha!" Harry felt a blow to his diaphragm and he was forced to succumb to it when a large figure grabbed him around the arms, keeping him upright and refusing any movement. "Tie 'em up night and tight, we don't want no magic."

Ron heard a yelp and knew Hermione and Ron had been held up too. Harry felt a hand dig in his belt's pockets in search of any valuable items, perhaps – a second later his hands were forced behind his back as his captor started tying thin rope around them. He saw about a dozen horses – probably owned by the thugs – nearby.

"Well, look what we have here," said the main captor; his hair reached his shoulders and he had an aura of insanity; with him were about a dozen others. "State your name and why you're here in these woods."

"We got lost," Hermione said; Harry turned to look at her. Her captor was holding her arms back, and her air was full of twigs and leaves, a sign she had had a struggle.

"Lost, did you?" said the leader. "In the woods…I think you're going to be my favorite, girly." He walked up to her and took her around the waist; she winced in his grip.

"DON'T TOUCH HER!"

Harry whipped around, again, to see Ron, in the same position as Hermione, but unfortunately for him, his captor was twice his size; which was odd because Ron was already 6 feet tall.

"And look here," said the leader, walking towards Ron.. "The one who got you all into this mess in the first place – what's your name, love?"

Ron didn't answer. His captor smiled, revealing yellow teeth – "Feisty one here, Scabior," he said.

Scabior kneed Ron hard in the stomach and he doubled over; Harry could tell a bruise was forming.

"Stop it!" Hermione cried. "Please just stop!"

"You then," said Scabior, facing her, his face only about two inches away from hers. "What's your name?"

Hermione didn't immediately answer, and Harry could tell she was trying to think of one. "Marietta Edgecombe, my father and mother work at the castle."

"At the castle, do they?" said Scabior. "Well that's a pretty prestigious title, girly – I'm sure King Tom will save you for last."

He next turned to Ron. "Unless you want more than you've already asked for, I suggest a name would do the trick."

Ron winced. "Zacharias Smith," he finally said – Harry smiled a little. The actual Zacharias Smith was a boy who went to Draconifors with them; he held his nose so high Harry swore once or twice he saw bogies.

"There are plenty of Smiths in Hogwarts," Scabior said. "Let's hope your one that is not on King Tom's execution's list. And finally…you?" he turned to Harry.

Harry knew who he was going to say – he had known since he realized these men as Riddle's spies. "Gregory Goyle," he said. Goyle was one of Draco's accomplices.

"A Goyle…well I've never heard of you. Let's hope King Tom hasn't either."

He walked out to the middle of the circular form of people on the forest floor. "According to Hogwarts law, anybody else found in the forests of the land are deemed criminals and henceforth sentenced to interrogation by King Tom himself. Which means you three are coming with us to the castle – and you better get your stories straight for the King. Now that that's all said and done, we will perform a quick dissaparation and –" he suddenly stopped by the sound of a sudden yelp.

Harry whipped around to see that Ron had somehow managed to get his captor off him and on the floor. His tied arms were now in front of him and he was charging towards Harry's captor. He ducked as he tried to swing his arm to hit Ron's and Harry took his chance; he bumped his captor into the tree behind him and he and Ron looked at each other and charged at the other captors. They all trapped Harry and Ron, so they ended up back-to-back, defending themselves –

"Get them!" Harry heard Scabior shriek.

Ron whispered to Harry, "Do something!"

He managed to get his arms on the front. Harry joined his hands together, muttered, "Impdimenta Maxima!" and released his hands so that they were both open but still joined together; the captors flew back and Harry eyed the horses; they had to escape. "Hermione?" he said.

"Over here," Hermione groaned, as Ron helped her up; his hands were now free and Hermione's had never been tied.

"We've got to get their horses!" Harry said, and the trio made a run for it, as the thugs groaned on the floor, Scabior included. "NOW!"

"I've never ridden one of these!" Hermione said as they ran towards the horses.

"Oh, you've got to be joking!" Ron said. "Here – get on- " he gestured to a white stallion, and Hermione made her way on the end of the saddle with Ron's help – Ron soon jumped on to join her in the front. "Hold tightly," he said, and Hermione blushed furiously before linking her arms around his waist. "Harry, you alright?"

"Yes," Harry said, and he managed to get himself on a black horse with a prominent red saddle. "Let's go!" he said, and kicked the horse to ensure it that they were ready to ride off. The horse reared up and then ran, its swiftness avoiding trees and logs; Harry had never ridden a horse quite like it. He turned to see the captors on the floor jump on their remaining horses – a chase had begun.

"Ron?" he said, and as he turned to his right he saw Ron, with a reluctant, sick-looking Hermione clutching him.

"We've got to escape from them!" said Ron.

"There!" Hermione said, pointing at a curved path of parted trees.

Harry turned around to see the thugs – they were gaining on them.

"GO!" he yelled, and he saw flashes of Ron's white horse's hair as they made a turn and went on straight. Hopefully Hermione knew where they were going…As long as we're away from those awful thugs, Harry thought to himself.

He turned around…they were gone.

And where will our trusty trio head off to next?

Hehe. I like teasing. But I'm developing Chapters 5 and 6 at the same time, so this should be fun!