A/N: Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling and her associates. Please support the official release.

Room of Requirement

Following Hermione into the Room of Requirement, Harry was surprised to find himself standing in an exact replica of the Ravenclaw common room. The wide, airy space was littered with books, school papers and old documents, and a warm fire blazing in the fireplace cast long shadows across the ground, coloring the otherwise white marble golden yellow. All in all, the room looked… cozy. Very cozy, in fact. But he didn't have the faintest of clues as to why Hermione had chosen to bring him here now.

"Oh, wow… this is… nice…" he muttered timidly, not really sure what to say.

"Hmm… I suppose it is," Hermione replied, shrugging ever so slightly. "I don't really know why I like it, but for some reason it calms me down. And I could use some of that calmness right about now."

Her words, despite being spoken in a soft tone of voice, scared Harry more than any Dementor ever had.

"So… you feel calmer now…?" he dared ask, inwardly holding his breath.

Letting out a long sigh, she turned around to face him, her eyes locking onto his with relentless intensity.

"Harry, we need to talk."

Oh god no. Those words… those dreaded words. A man's greatest fear.

"W-We do…?" he stammered, swallowing hard in an attempt to strengthen his resolve. It didn't work.

"Yes, we do. We need to talk about what happened today, what's going to happen in the future and… and…"

Taking a deep breath, she steadied her voice and allowed those last, soul-crushing words to leave her lips.

"And… our friendship. We need to talk about our friendship."

It took him a moment to realize the true meaning behind her words. But once he did, it was like a whirlpool of emotions roared to life inside of him, threatening to claw its way out. He felt sad, hurt, betrayed, disappointed; all at the same time.

Our… friendship? What does she mean by… don't tell me that…

"Yes, Harry. Our friendship," she continued once she saw that he had realized what she meant. "I need you to promise me something."

"Okay... I can do that... What do you need from me, Hermione?"

"I need you to promise that you'll never keep anything from me, and that you won't act rashly on your volatile emotions in the future."

A moment of silence came and went as he processed her words.

"My volatile emotions? You mean... emotions caused by potential remnants of the Obscurus?" he finally asked.

"Yes," Hermione nodded. "It's very important to me. So please; do this... make the promise."

"What if... there are things that I need to keep silent about? Things that... aren't necessary for you to know. Things that would only worry you?"

A wounded look flashed across Hermione's face.

"Are you telling me you won't do it?"

"No, that's not what I-"

"Because if you are, then... then..."

Hermione felt her voice beginning to break now. Her words were becoming shaky, her mouth was starting to quiver and the tears were welling up in her eyes. It hurt to say it. Hell, it hurt to even think about it. But it had to be done. She had to make him realize that this was serious. That this wasn't something he could ignore or brush off.

"Then... I don't know if I can help you anymore. Not in the way I want to."

"Hermione..." Harry suddenly breathed, cutting her off before she could elaborate any further.

"No, Harry, I… You need to..."

"Please…" he whispered, taking a step towards her out of pure desperation.

"You need to understand…" she started, already feeling her walls beginning to crumble under the weight of her words. Godric, who would have thought something this simple would hurt so much? "You need to understand that…"

"But I do understand, Hermione, I do," he exclaimed, grabbing ahold of her arm. "I admit; I didn't know it was this bad, but I can see that now. I get it. I've been hurting you. Not on purpose, but I have."

His words brought her to a pause, her brain shorting out as she struggled to say anything at all.

"But from now on, I'll do things differently. I won't keep secrets from you. I won't lie to you. And I won't act rashly on my emotions. I promise. I promise, so just please… don't go. I can't… I'm not strong enough to…"

Eyes wide in shock at the sudden outburst of emotion, Hermione stood completely still as she processed his words. She had expected him to react strongly to the suggestion, but this strongly? That was highly unusual for Harry. He was more of the silent, brooding type, and not really one for sharing his emotions.

"So… will you stay? … Please?" he sighed, slowly letting go of her arm to run a shaky hand through his unruly black hair.

"I… maybe…" she started, her mind not quite managing to find the right words to form a coherent sentence. A nerve-wracking moment of silence passed then, before she finally opened her mouth to answer him.

"…kay"

"Hmm?"

"Okay… okay."

Her words hit Harry like a truck. He could scarcely believe his own ears, in fact. For the past couple of months, he had been treating Hermione more like an obstacle than a friend. He had pushed her away, lied to her, kept her in the dark… He was fully aware of how unfriendly he had been. So the fact that she was still willing to give him a chance... It made him feel all kinds of ways.

"Thank you…" he breathed, acting on pure instinct and enveloping her in a soft hug.

At first, Hermione stood stiff as a board as he hugged her, but then she gradually began melting into his touch. Her defenses broke down, and she allowed her tears to flow freely for the first time since they began the conversation.

Pushing her head into his shoulder, she cried and cried as Harry held her in his embrace. Rubbing his hand up and down her back, he tried his best to comfort her through the storm, but in reality, he too was struggling. He too wanted to cry as hard as he could. This had been surprisingly painful for the both of them; and Harry had to really fight to keep his own tears from bursting out.

A few minutes passed by, and Hermione's cries started to die down again. She had shed her tears now, and felt magnitudes better than before. Noticing the change, Harry gently pushed her away from him, still holding her close, but not as close as before. He looked at her bloodshot eyes, and used his hand to brush back a stray lock of hair that had fallen into her face during her breakdown. Her heart soared as he did so, sorrow suddenly replaced with giddy, childlike excitement. Having Harry touch her in such a loving way set off fireworks in her head, and she secretly thanked her lucky stars that she hadn't gone through with her original plan of breaking up their friendship.

"Better now?" Harry asked, a flash of worry marring his features for just a moment.

"Yeah… a little bit," Hermione replied drily, wiping away the leftover tears from the corner of her eyes. "Thanks. For hearing me out, and… for taking me seriously."

"Hey, no problem," Harry smiled, letting go of her completely and taking a couple of steps back. "From now on, I promise I'll always listen when you have something to say."

"Thank you," she smiled back, absentmindedly rubbing the spot on her arm where his hand had just been. "And I hate to ruin the moment, but… I think we should start heading back. We've already been gone for too long, and even if we don't like it, we still have classes to attend…"

"Yeah," Harry nodded, his eyes honing in on the door leading out of the room. "That's probably a good idea."

And together they left the Room of Requirement, with a promise of honesty firmly renewed.

Streets of London

Sirius had never really liked spending a lot of time in his dog form. The natural instincts that lay hard-coded in every dog's DNA could at times be very hard to ignore, and even with years of practice, he still occasionally felt the need to randomly chase cats or pee on fire hydrants. Not the worst things to have to deal with, of course, but still annoying at the best of times. And, seeing as he had been on the run from the Ministry for the past couple of months, he had been forced to spend more time in his dog form than what was perhaps healthy.

Still though, the skill to transform into a stray dog had helped him avoid incarceration on numerous occasions and was a valuable asset to getting around without being noticed. It hadn't, however, helped him nearly as much as he had hoped it would when it came to finding his way back to Hogwarts.

The first problem with getting back to the school had appeared when Sirius realized that he couldn't simply sneak onto the Hogwarts Express, because that particular train only went to Hogwarts three times a year, and he had missed the Christmas train by a couple of hours. He then realized that he couldn't just Apparate either, because his magic was still a tad bit unstable due to his prolonged stay at Azkaban, and he was quite frankly afraid he would end up impaled on a tree or something if he even tried. True, he had used Apparition to escape Azkaban in the first place, but back then he really hadn't had much of a choice, and thus had been forced to use it. So, taking all of that into consideration, he was left with only one reasonable option: the Knight Bus.

Now, if you asked any wizard or witch currently presiding in Britain about how it was to ride the Knight Bus, most of them would probably vomit in reflex as their brains recalled the shaky and stomach twisting experience. So the thought of having to take that deathtrap all the way to Hogwarts wasn't exactly pleasant. But, considering his current situation, Sirius figured he didn't get to have the luxury of being picky when it came to the method of transportation.

Getting onto the actual bus itself, though, had proven to be easier than Sirius had been expecting. The conductor had certainly been surprised once he saw the most wanted man in the British wizarding community casually standing there on the side of the road like any other passerby, but a hidden Confundus Charm had quickly taken care of that little problem, and secured Sirius a ticket straight to Hogsmeade for the heavily discounted price of completely fucking free.

The ride itself, however, had not been nearly as easy to endure. The constant shaking, rocking and shape shifting didn't exactly make for a very smooth and relaxing experience, and Sirius had been forced to fight with every fiber of his being against the violent nausea that had raged inside his stomach for every minute of the trip. Finally arriving at the outskirts of Hogsmeade had felt almost as liberating as escaping Azkaban.

Quickly transforming into his Animagus form, Sirius began making his way through the seemingly empty streets of his favorite village. It was late into the evening hours now, and most of the visitors and locals had either gone home or scurried off to The Three Broomsticks bar to engage in some late night drinking. Sirius reckoned that even if he were to encounter someone, he or she would probably be too drunk or too tired to really care about some stray dog.

Tripping down the winding main road of the quaint little town, he couldn't help but reminisce about the old days, when him and the other Marauders would come here to drink Butterbeer or buy ridiculously overpriced candy or laugh at Severus standing outside the potions shop with such a childish look in his eyes. It had been a good period of his life, a happy period. Even now, looking back so many years later, Sirius felt a deep sense of gratitude for the time he had been allowed to spend here. The memories he had from the time at Hogwarts gave him strength in moments of hardship and darkness. Memories of the time before the Great War happened, before Voldemort happened, before the Order happened. Memories from before any of his friends died.

Growling lightly, he continued on his path, inwardly cursing himself for allowing such thoughts to occupy his mind at a time like this. Right now, he had to be focused. His Godson was in trouble. That was all that mattered for the time being. Harry needed him now more than ever, especially if the recent news were anything to go by.

But how will he feel about meeting me, though? Surely he knows that I am wanted for mass murder by now? Will he be afraid? Has he bought into the Ministry's lies yet? I suppose only time will tell…

Upping the pace ever so slightly, Sirius pushed away all such thoughts before strengthening his resolve and setting course straight for the school grounds. Despite everything, he knew that Hogwarts was the place he needed to be right now, no matter whether his godson wanted him there or not.

The Forbidden Forest

Letting out a grunt of annoyance, Nymphadora Tonks continued on her way through the dense forest, running into branches and other painful vegetation every couple of seconds. She was seriously starting to reconsider this whole Auror thing, especially considering her current situation.

Babysitting the wizarding worlds' biggest celebrity really wasn't what I imagined myself doing when I signed up to be an Auror for the DMLE… Tonks thought to herself as she brushed away a couple of stray leaves that had gotten tangled up in her hair. Sure, he's a very important person and all, and I get that he might need protection from possibly enemies, but… WHY ME?

So far, the assignment had been a complete bitch to work. Due to the Hogwarts Wards, Tonks had been forced to Apparate into the Forbidden Forest, which she had never really liked to begin with (not that a lot of people liked the Forbidden Forest anyway). The ghastly smell of death that hung over the place really didn't make it all that appealing, and coupled with its constant fog and vicious creatures, made it an all-around BAD location to be in. It was definitely in her top ten list of worst places on Planet Earth, and that list was quite extensive to boot.

After stumbling her way through the forest for another couple of minutes, she finally spotted her destination in the distance. The trees were beginning to clear up now, giving her a much clearer view of the massive stone castle that was Hogwarts. No matter how many times she saw it, the building never ceased to amaze her.

Alright, now all that remains is to find the Potter boy, and this assignment can begin for real.

Taking a deep breath to calm her surprisingly shaky nerves, Nymphadora finally allowed her body to change and contort into the shape of a fly. The whole thing felt mildly uncomfortable to say the least, especially considering the shape and structure of the creature she was changing into, but she was rapidly getting used to her new form. Carefully testing her newly grown wings, she was delighted to feel herself lifting up from the ground, gaining altitude faster than she had expected. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad after all?

Okay, I can definitely work with this… Watch out Hogwarts, Tonks is coming home!

Headmaster's Office

Albus was in the middle of extracting a memory for use in the Pensieve when he felt the presence of a new visitor within the Hogwarts Wards. The keystone controlling all of the protective enchantments of the castle had been directly linked to Albus's blood when he took over as Headmaster, and thus, he could always sense whenever someone left or entered the school grounds. This particular presence felt oddly familiar though, as if the person had been to Hogwarts before.

Dropping the newly extracted memory into a nearby empty vial, Albus carefully placed it on the shelf where he kept such things before turning around to face his desk. He had to figure out the identity of this foreign visitor, and why he or she had come here to Hogwarts. Sadly, the Wards couldn't tell him who the person was without him manually touching the keystone, and such a thing would require him to go to the lower levels of the Dungeons where it was kept. Luckily enough for him though, he was the Headmaster of this place, and that allowed him and him only to Apparate within the school grounds.

It only took him a moment to reposition to the Dungeons, where he found himself standing right in front of a rather large and intricately detailed Vault Door. Pulling out his wand, Albus pointed it at the massive door and cast the necessary spell required to unlock it, and stood back as it slowly swung open for him. Inside, he could already see the faint glow of the keystone, floating a couple of inches above ground on a pedestal in the middle of the vault room.

Approaching it, he wasted no time in taking the rather small item into his hand, instantly feeling its magic surge through him. Inside his mind, he could feel the presence of every single student and staff member currently at Hogwarts, complete with a full list of all their names. Therefore, it didn't take him long to locate the new visitor and figure out who she was.

Nymphadora Tonks? he thought to himself, furrowing his brows in confusion. What is she doing here? Doesn't she work for the DMLE these days?

Tracing her signature across the ground, Albus watched as her presence made its way towards the Ravenclaw Tower, moving faster than any human could.

She is moving too quickly to be on foot… Must be in a different form then. She is a known metamorphmagus, if I recall correctly. But why is she here? And why is she heading for Ravenclaw Tower?

Doing a quick sweep of the building, Albus rapidly compiled a list of everyone present in the Tower, making sure to count every single person there. It didn't take him long to realize which one she was likely after.

Harry Potter, currently located in the boys' dormitory in Ravenclaw Tower. If I were to guess, that is most likely Miss Tonks' target. But what could she possibly want with him? And why haven't the DMLE notified me of this visit?

Every revelation kept on leading to more questions, so Albus ultimately decided that the best course of action here was probably to simply wait and see what would happen. It was obvious that Miss Tonks likely wasn't here to hurt Harry, so letting her run free wasn't too big of a risk for Albus to take. And even if she did do something bad, he could simply Apparate to her position and deal with her himself, if such a thing became necessary.

If it is as I suspect, she is here on an unofficial mission from the DMLE. And if that is the case, then this might just be the perfect opportunity to gain some leverage on Amelia. Leverage I can use against her in the future, if the situation requires it.

And so Albus decided to simply do nothing, and continue to watch as Nymphadora Tonks steadily approached Ravenclaw Tower.

Ravenclaw Tower, Boys' Dormitory

Meanwhile, inside the actual Tower itself, Harry was currently sitting perfectly still in the Lotus position, completely unaware of the fact that both his Godfather and an Auror from the DMLE were making their way towards him. The reason for his pose was of course because he was practicing his Occlumency. He had been sitting like that for nearly half an hour now, emptying his head of static.

His mind an endless sea of darkness, Harry finally let himself be fully engulfed by the void, his Occlumency barriers strengthening drastically as he did so. Sitting on his bed on the other side of the room was Luna Lovegood, watching over him as he worked, her eyes sparkling a deep shade of silver. She was taking her role as his impromptu teacher rather seriously, and as such, never made a sound during his training, even when he remained completely silent for hours on end. She simply sat there, looking at him with those silvery eyes of hers, never faltering or lowering her gaze in the slightest.

Then finally, after what felt like a small eternity, Harry let himself return to the present, mentally dragging himself back out of the dark abyss that had formed in his mind. Opening his eyes and looking over at Luna, he shot her a satisfied smile as he got up from his sitting position on the floor.

"That was a good one," he remarked, stretching out his back with a small groan. "It looks like all this training is finally starting to pay off."

"Yes, it would appear so," Luna answered, giving him a smile of her own in return. "You are able to concentrate for longer periods of time without fail now, indicating that your skills in the arts of Occlumency are indeed growing."

"But a good deal of that progress is due to you, Luna," Harry nodded, unwilling to accept sole responsibility for his rapid development. "Without you and those tricks you taught me, it would've taken me hours just to get my head empty enough to do actual Occlumency."

"That may be so, but you are a fast learner, Harry. You would've eventually made it this far on your own as well."

"Just take the compliment, Luna," he sighed, shaking his head in exasperation at the blonde girl. Why did she always have to be so modest and understanding? It wasn't normal for a human to be so considerate of others.

"As you wish," she replied with a smile, gently tapping the bed next to her. Accepting her invitation, Harry let himself fall onto the soft mattress, his mind all but exhausted after the rigorous workout. Training oneself in the mind arts was a tiresome process that required an intense amount of concentration, after all. It was necessary for him to do, of course, but it was still a complete pain.

Feeling his strength slowly returning to him, Harry tried to sit back up again, but found himself unable to do so as Luna cuddled up next to him on the bed and started using his chest as a pillow.

"This again, Luna?" he sighed, inwardly praying that none of the boys would come in to find them in such a… compromising position.

"It feels good when you play with my hair," she stated, her childish tone of voice somehow making her sound even more childlike and adorable than usual. Figuring he didn't exactly have much of a choice, Harry absentmindedly began running his fingers through her golden locks, willfully ignoring the soft moans that occasionally leaked out of Luna's mouth.

Despite its weirdness, this had actually become a rather normal occurrence lately, with Harry stroking Luna's hair like this after they were done with a session of Occlumency training. At first, it had felt a little awkward to be doing something so… physical… with her, but he had quickly accepted that this was his life now, and that there was no denying Luna anything once she pulled out the "innocent and adorable child" act.

"Harry, I have a question…" she suddenly piped up, breaking the silence that had reigned for the past couple of minutes.

"Fire away."

"Do you think about sex a lot?"

"Totally... I mean, WHAT?!" His mind grinding to a halt, Harry stared down at the girl laying on his chest with wide eyes, a look of complete shock coloring his features. Why in Godric's name would she ask him something like that?

"I didn't mean to upset you," she continued, her tone dead serious despite the rather embarrassing nature of the subject. "It's just that, my father recently told me that we were approaching that age where guys start to think about stuff like that, and seeing as you are the only male friend I have, I figured I could ask you about it."

"Uhhh… Well, I mean… Ehh…" Struggling to come up with a good answer to her question, Harry desperately tried to think of a way to change the subject topic as fast as possible. It was not like the concept of sex was completely foreign to him, he was an aging teenage boy after all, so of course he had thought about it. But he didn't exactly feel like sharing such intimate details with Luna, especially not now, considering their current… situation.

"On top of that, I have to admit, I am very curious about how it feels to engage in such an act. If I asked you, would you say yes to doing it with me in the future, Harry? I wouldn't mind having you as my first."

His brain going completely haywire, Harry could do nothing but utter unintelligible gibberish as he considered the implications of Luna's statement. The fact that she was seemingly okay with the idea of him taking her virginity set his blood ablaze, and made his heart beat faster than what was probably healthy. You see, despite being a very rational individual, Harry was still a hormonal teenager at heart, and having a girl literally ask you if you would be okay with banging her was more than his brain could handle at the moment.

"… You aren't saying much, Harry. Are you feeling well? Do you want something to drink?"

"N… No, I-I'm fine, Luna… Please, just… Stop asking me about this!"

"Oh, so I take it you don't want to sleep with me then?"

"NO! I mean, i-its not like I'd have a problem with it... BUT NO!"

"Hey, it's okay, Harry. All of this is purely hypothetical. We are still far too young to be seriously considering losing our virginity. I'd just like you to know that, as of right now, you are the only one I'd be okay sleeping with."

"That's… very kind of you, Luna," Harry breathed, his heartrate finally beginning to even out again. "But please... at least give a guy a small warning or something before you drop such a bombshell in the future."

"… Okay. I'll take that into consideration, Harry."

"Thanks. That's all I ask…"

"…"

A moment of silence passed then, before Luna spoke up again.

"Why did you stop stroking my hair? Keep going, please."

Somewhere in England

Madison groaned in discomfort as her brain gradually started booting back up again. Her head hurt like crazy, and memories of the past couple of hours started popping up at random intervals, making little to no sense out of order. With considerable effort, she forced her eyes to open, her eyelids feeling more like sandbags than anything else.

Everything around her was pitch black. No matter where she looked, all she could see was never-ending darkness stretching out in all directions, containing not even the faintest trace of light. At first, this confused her, as she couldn't understand why everything was so dark. But then, it hit her. The memories that had, up until now, not made any sense, suddenly fell into place.

She had been out drinking with a couple of her friends, celebrating Audrey's engagement to Jake. The two of them had been dating ever since high school, so it was about time they finally "tied the knot". It had been a happy evening, one filled with smiles, laughter, tequila and good music. Madison had never seen Audrey so full of happiness and excitement before, constantly smiling and laughing, as if everything was finally as it should be.

When the party finally started dying down a couple of hours later, and it was time for the girls to return home, Madison had teamed up with Jessica who lived in the same area as her. The two girls had walked down the empty streets of the little town together, singing and laughing as they did. Despite it being rather late in the evening, neither of the two girls had felt unsafe, seeing as they had lived in this place for as long as they could remember, and knew every street and every alley by heart.

But after that, the memories just… stopped. The last thing Madison could remember from that evening was seeing a flash of light somewhere in her peripheral vision, before everything went dark.

Sighing quietly to herself, she tried moving her sore body to get out of the uncomfortable position she was laying in; but was surprised to find herself unable to do so, her arms and legs seemingly tied together. Surprise quickly shifted to panic as her brain finally came to a consensus on what had most likely happened.

She had been kidnapped. That was the only thing that made sense now. The only answer she could think of. Someone had seen her and Jessica stumbling down the street and decided to take advantage of the situation. They could hardly put up much of a fight, after all, considering how drunk the two of them had been. And the reason she couldn't see anything or move her arms and legs, was probably because the kidnapper had tied her up and put something on her head.

Her adrenalin levels spiking at the realization, Madison desperately tried to force herself out of her restraints, but it was to no avail. The rope that had been used to tie her up was simply too resilient. She wasn't strong enough to break out of it. Next, she tried screaming, but that didn't work either, as her voice came out muffled and distorted due to the cloth someone had stuck in her mouth.

Suddenly, the sound of a door opening made her stop, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. The sound was followed up by another one, this one that of footsteps gradually becoming louder and louder as they approached. Someone else had entered the room… and was coming straight towards her.

"Hmphrg! Arrrg!" Madison tried screaming, but it was useless. The sound came out muted and faint. She was at the complete mercy of whoever had kidnapped her, and there was nothing she could do to escape.

"Ahh, I see the little princess has finally woken up," a foreign voice said, the shrill and raspy sound of it sending waves of terror down Madison's spine. "And just in time for the ceremony as well! What good timing!"

Feeling rough hands grabbing ahold of her, she couldn't help but let out a whimper of fear as she was lifted off the ground and placed on top of the unknown man's shoulders.

"You should be happy, you know," the foreign voice continued as they started moving, Madison's head bobbing up and down violently with each step he took. "Not everyone gets to have the honor of participating in the Dark Lord's revival."

Dark Lord…?

"If I were you, I'd praise my lucky stars for the opportunity to serve him in such a fashion."

Muffled screaming was the only answer Madison could give, and the man chuckled as he heard her struggling.

"You really are one lively little rat, aren't you? Well, not to worry; you'll be free soon enough."

Suddenly, they came to an abrupt halt, and Madison was dumped unceremoniously on the ground, her face crashing painfully into the cold hard concrete below. The taste of blood welled up in her mouth as she groaned in agony, but just like the before, the man simply laughed at her suffering.

"Time for you to open your eyes, little princess."

Madison flinched as blinding light filled her vision, breaking apart the darkness that her eyes had grown accustomed to. The man had removed the thing over her head, allowing her to finally get a good look of her surroundings. She appeared to be in some sort of abandoned apartment complex, the living room in front of her all but broken down after years of misuse. Dust, grime and dirt littered every surface of the room, and the whole place reeked of death.

But that wasn't all she saw when she opened her eyes. She also spotted Jessica, sitting on her knees in the middle of the room with a knife pushed up against her throat. Behind her, a man in a black robe stood, an ornamental mask portraying the head of a skeleton covering his face. On the ground beneath them, a huge circle was drawn, looking an awful lot like the satanic pentagrams Madison had seen online.

As soon as she made eye contact with Jessica, the two girls immediately burst into tears. It was obvious that Jessica was just as scared as Madison, her frail body shaking fiercely under the grip of the black-robed man.

"Rejoice, o you lost ones!" the shrill voice of her captor said in an almost ceremonial tone, cutting the girls' reunion short in an abrupt manner. "For you have been given PURPOSE! On this glorious day, you have been chosen as the ones who are going to help bring back the Lord of Darkness! He who will tear down this worlds' heretics and sinners, and rise above them as their rightful master!"

As he chanted, the circle underneath Jessica gradually started glowing, its red light coloring the walls and ceiling a deep shade of crimson. The man in the black robe looked down at the light, and took a firmer grip around the knife he was holding. He was preparing for something…

"I ask that you accept these girls' souls into your own, Master, and that you feed off them and grow stronger! They will be sacrificed in your name, and your name only!"

Sacrificed?!

Madison was feeling the hysteria beginning to set in now, her panic elevating to new heights as she watched the light coming from the ground growing more and more intense by the second.

"TAKE HER SOUL, MASTER! TAKE IT AND GROW!"

As he screamed out those horrible words, the black-robed man tensed up, before jerking the knife to the side in one swift motion. Madison locked eyes with Jessica in that instant, as her throat was slit open from left to right. She maintained eye contact through it all, even when the blood started flowing from the now open wound, coloring her friends' skin red and dripping down on the floor beneath her.

Something happened then, when the blood made contact with the circle on the ground. A deep rumble shook the entire building, and loud whispers filled the air. The whole experience was so surreal that Madison could do nothing but silently scream into the cloth covering her mouth as the lifeless corpse of her friend slumped to the ground, the blood from her slit throat starting to pool around her head.

"YES! YES!" the man with the shrill voice laughed, standing with his arms held high in some wicked display of piety. "IT'S PERFECT! MASTER, SHE IS YOURS NOW! TAKE HER!"

The rumbling continued, shaking the building with supernatural force. It didn't really matter to Madison anymore, though. She had long since lost her mind now, her sanity snapped with the sight of one of her best friends being sacrificed to some death god right in front of her. Therefore, she didn't even react when the black-robed man walked over to her and grabbed her arm, her emotions all but gone at this point. She knew she was going to die, so why resist it?

Dragging her into the middle of the circle, the robed man forced her to her knees, right in front of her dead friend. The man with the shrill voice resumed his chanting, but Madison was no longer paying attention to it. She wasn't really paying attention to much of anything all, to be honest. Her mind was broken, fragmented and shattered. She could do nothing but stare pathetically down at her friends' corpse as the moment of her death approached. Once it finally came, she felt the cold metal of the knife being pushed up against her throat. The last thing she thought of before it cut her open was home, and how she would never get to meet Audrey's children or attend their wedding. It was a sad thought, but death came swiftly, and soon enough, the girl known as Madison was no more.

A/N: So, quite a few things have happened since the last time I posted a chapter on this story. To begin with, I graduated high school (fucking finally), got accepted into my preferred college (thankfully), got my own apartment near my new school (freedom at last) and finally, wrote and published a new chapter on my other story. That's quite a lot in just a couple of months, if you ask me.

But I do apologize for taking so long with this chapter. There were a lot of things I wanted to fit in here, and for a long time, I wasn't really sure how to write it all. Things are beginning to heat up for Harry and his band of misfits, after all, and the climax of his Third Year at Hogwarts is fast approaching. I really do hope you decide to stick around to the end, even if it takes me 60 years to get there.

As always, if you enjoyed the read, please leave a review telling me what you thought. I like 'em a lot and they motivate me to write more so please, keep them coming.

And I will see you guys in the next chapter.

-Twisted