Hey everyone! Well, here is chapter 4! This chapter gave me a little trouble, for some reason I just didn't know how to start it, so I tried a different angle. Hopefully it worked out okay..., sorry if it turned out kind of boring. Also, a big thank you to everyone who is continuing to review, I really appreciate it! Thank you all so much for your encouragement! Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! And please, if you have the time, review and let me know how it's going (:

Chapter 4:

The Truth

Deep within a forest of ancient trees lies a man hidden from the world, in a place where few traveled, and even fewer have seen. This man was unlike any other, he was special, but was blinded by greed and opportunity. He tampered with things that shouldn't have ever been tampered with, and paid a great price for it. He made all the wrong choices, and is cursed forever because of it.

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Harry had felt fear before; almost everyday of his life he felt a jolt of it from his very own thoughts and dreams. Fearful thoughts of Voldemort killing everyone close to him came frequently, as did how he had to relive all of the deaths that he had come to witness by Voldemort's hand, causing him to feel an immeasurable amount of guilt and sadness. However, there was one dream that he had been having frequently that plagued him, for he had not come to witness this one, but every time it flashed in his mind it felt so real that he swear he could hear the leaves crunch after each footstep. The dream was of him walking through a forest to die at the mercy of Voldemort to save those that he loved, knowing fully well that he would not be able to avoid death this time, like he had so many years before.

Never before in his life had he ever felt this type of fear, it was overpowering his body and causing his entire being to go numb. Those eyes; they seemed to stare into the soul at a glance, scouring it's victim's body of happiness and hope; and that voice; the fact that it curved off of his tongue like a snake, would send bone chilling waves throughout Harry's body, making him nauseous. Harry had felt it so many times before, everything about Him made Harry feel weak, but the fact that he was caught this off guard, and completely cornered by the man that would change the fate of the world unless Harry could stop him, was completely disheartening.

He was finished, and was going to be finished off in the very place where he was truly happy, and with the people he loved.

Voldemort was right behind him. He was done.

Harry and Ron abruptly turned to confront the faceless voice and to Harry's surprise it wasn't the person he thought he heard.

Lucius Malfoy? Bellatrix Lestrange? Fenrir Greyback? Where was Voldemort? Harry knew he had heard his voice. Was he imagining things?

Harry's thoughts came back to the predicament before him for a moment, and looking around he noticed that he and Ron were both clearly outnumbered, six to two. They weren't going to be able to hold them off for very long if they had to fight.

Harry and Ron exchanged nervous glances, both realizing the same thing: they would have to make a stand and fight, or die trying.

Lucius gave a malevolent laugh under his breath at the sight of their faces, while Bellatrixs' cackle set off like a firecracker in the hallway. Time itself seemed to slow.

"Potter, let me make this...simple. Give yourself up, and we'll give you the antidote." Lucius stated plainly, as Bellatrix took a step closer to Harry twirling her wand around in her hair.

"Don't you want to save her?" She whispered.

"What are you talking abo-" Harry started but was cut off as Malfoy spoke up.

"We didn't get the chance to tell him yet. You see… we were savoring the moment." Malfoy said, grinning at Ron and Harry's glares.

"Oh, how rude of me! You see, The Dark Lord gave us a special task: we've injected your darling little…sister with a rare kind of illness, one that has only one antidote; an antidote that we and only we have. There is no other in the entire world." Lucius explained, as Harry's anger rose to a dangerously high level.

If you hurt her-" Harry growled as a familiar voice rang in his ears once again.

"Kill him… You know you want to. He hurt her, she's going to die because of him, kill him. He deserves it." It taunted in his mind, as Harry's scar erupted in agonizing shockwaves of pain.

Realization hit him like a train; Voldemort was inside his mind, flipping through his thoughts and memories like an open book.

"So, now that that's cleared up, let's get back to the deal, we want you in exchange for the antidote." Bellatrix snarled, taking her wand from her hair to point it at Harry.

"They're lying! Don't listen to them Harry, it's a trap!" Ron said angrily, staring down Lucius.

Harry's vision blurred as the voice in his head continued to taunt him in his mind.

"Kill him…you have to mean it." The voice continued to whisper in his mind. Everyone in the room seemed to be completely oblivious to Harry's inner struggle, as the conversation continued without a second glance at him.

"On the contrary, Weasley, it's far from a lie. We did exactly as we said. Your stupid sister is infected with the rarest disease in the world." Malfoy said, a sly smile spreading across his face.

Harry focused in on what was going on his mind, trying to block out the situation around him.

"I'm not like you. You kill innocent people so that wizards will fear you. You've never felt love, or friendship; only hate and anger towards the world who you believe rejected you, and I feel sorry for you." Harry repeatedly thought, momentarily closing the connection between Voldemort and himself. Harry focused back in on reality just in time to grab Ron from lunging at Malfoy.

"I'll kill you if you hurt her in any way-"Ron bellowed, struggling against Harry's hold, trying to get close enough to rip Malfoy apart.

Malfoy erupted into a laughing fit, taunting Ron, Crabbe and Goyle doing the same.

"The damage is done. Only Potter can save her now." Bellatrix said sighing, as if she were bored of the situation.

"What if I think that this is just a trap, and I chose no?" Harry asked, trying to buy some time to think of how they were going to get out of this situation alive. Harry let go of Ron, who was still fuming, but was much more under control than he had been a few moments ago. He and Ron turned to face Lucius, putting their backs to Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Well, if you'd rather watch him die, and then come with us, we can do that too." Lucius said, indicating to Ron. As if on cue, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle dove and tackled Ron to the ground. Ron was caught completely off guard, and struggled heavily against the three, managing to punch Malfoy in the face and give a well-deserved broken nose.

Fenrir Greyback was at Harry's side in an instant, blocking him from helping Ron. Harry watched in horror, as Malfoy and Goyle took turns punching Ron in the gut, while Goyle held him tightly from behind. Ron cried out in pain and fell to his knees as they continued t beat him down.

"Enough!" Lucius called from across the hallway, as Malfoy smiled as he took one last cheap shot to Ron's face.

"Let's get on with this Potter," Bellatrix taunted, walking over to Ron, shoving her wand at his throat. "Unless you want me to help you speed things up..." She added mouthing the words Crucio, shoving her wand deeper into his throat.

"Harry! Don't!" Ron managed before Bellatrix silenced him with her wand.

Looking from Ron, to Lucius, Harry saw no other option. He had to give himself in, or think of something.

"Crucio!" Bellatrix screamed, as Ron writhed in agony, falling completely to the floor in overwhelming pain ad agony.

"Stop! Stop it! Fine, I'll go with you! Let Ron go and give him the antidote." Harry yelled, walking towards Lucius, Bellatrixs' wand falling to her side, a sinister smile across her face.

Harry was done; he had to give up; for Ron's sake, for Ginny's, for the kids still fighting outside the train. There was no other option.

He was inches away from Lucius' outstretched hand when a cloud of white smoke appeared behind him. Harry stopped dead in his tracks; it was Lupin. Tonks appeared right behind him, along with Kingsley, Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Mad-eye, and Hermione. The Order had come.

Several things happened at once; Bellatrix disappeared in a puff of black smoke, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle began yelling incoherent things, and Lucius Malfoy turned around to find eight wands pointed at his face.

Five jets of red flashed toward him, sending his body flying backward. Fenrir Greyback charge; as Tonks sent a mirage of orange flashes towards him, all of which hit the target and sending him flying into a wall. He got up, and seeing that they were clearly beaten, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Malfoy ran towards Lucius, gave Harry a glance full of pure hatred, and dissapparated with his stunned father. Goyle and Crabbe dropped Ron, dissapparating on the spot. Ron crumbled to the ground, struggling to get back up. Harry ran over to help support him.

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, running over to help Harry with Ron, who was kneeling next to him. They helped him stand, supporting him on their shoulders, Hermione's arm around the small of Ron's back, as he groaned in pain.

"Harry! Ron! Are you alright? What happened?" Hermione asked her eyes slightly watery, as she rapidly fired questions at Harry, who was still slightly dazed. Ron moaned, and collapsed onto the floor; Harry and Hermione quickly helping him back up.

"Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix..."He managed before Mr. Weasley's loud voice interrupted him.

"Kids, get back to the Burrow! We'll clean up this mess!" He said, as The Order members filed out of the train, Bellatrixs' cackle echoing in the background.

"Come on, I'll explain when we get back to the burrow." Harry said the trio dissapparating back to the safety of the burrow.

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They appeared in the kitchen of the burrow in front of a flustered Mrs. Weasley, and several other people Harry had never seen before. The kitchen was a complete disaster; there were adults and students everywhere, chairs were sprawled all over the place, and cupboards were left hanging open, their contents empty.

Harry looked around at the infirmary that Mrs. Weasley had transformed her house into. Many students that he did not recognize bustled around, stopping at each bed to see how they could help. Harry saw Luna lying on a couch, Neville sitting at her side stroking her hand. Harry also saw the little brunette girl that had helped him battle Thicknesse earlier, being taken outside on a cot. Harry's stomach twisted, she wasn't moving and was white as a ghost. Harry jumped as Mrs. Weasley abruptly turned around.

Mrs. Weasley jumped, as surprised as Harry was to see the three of them there, supporting a very pale Ron.

"Harry! What happened," She said, helping them bring Ron to an empty cot near the stairs. "Here put him here, with the others." She explained helping them put him onto a cot, immediately tending to him.

"Well…," Harry began as Mrs. Weasley put her hand up to silence him.

"Later, please. This place is such a mess right now, everyone injured was brought here from the train. I want to get you cleaned up, but after you've rested." She explained, pointing to the stairs.

"No, Mrs. Weasley! I can help! I need to tell you about-" Harry began but was once again cut off by Mrs. Weasley.

"Harry, please. Later, Rest now!" Mrs. Weasley commanded, bustling off to help another injured student who was moaning and writhing in pain.

"But it's important!" Harry yelled after her, struggling to stay conscious as waves of exhaustion swept over his body. As much as he didn't want to, he stumbled up the stairs towards Ron's bedroom, glancing back down at the chaos of the burrow.

Hermione was tending to Ron, stealing chances to sit at his bedside when she wasn't helping Mrs. Weasley with other students. Everyone seemed to be taken care of.

He slowly walked up the remaining stairs, crashing into the extra bed that had been set up for him in Ron's room.

Every thought emptied his mind as exhaustion engulfed him and he allowed himself to be taken by the darkness around him.