A/N: This one is going to be a little sad. Please don't kill me for it!!!! Everything will turn out all right in the end. I promise!

A few weeks went past, then a month. Deaths were almost daily in the wizard newspaper. On the mention of the first death, a family of muggles, Hermione and Ron had tried to keep it from Harry, but he had overheard a few Slytherins gloating. Draco Malfoy was not among them.

With each passing day, and every death, Harry closed more into himself. He would barely eat, barely talk. His professors were noticing, and very concerned. Including Snape. But the thing that would hurt him most of all was yet to come.

It was dinner in the Great Hall. The hall was mostly filled with nervous conversations, some about the recent murders. A family that was highly respected among the wizarding world was tortured to death, the details too gruesome to describe. It was the twenty-sixth death since the beginning of the school year.

The mail arrived, just like it always did. The usual owls streamed into the hall, going to their owners whether or not they had a piece of mail to give them. One owl caught all of their eyes.

Voldemort had sent a letter to each student whose family was killed, using the same owl. It was large, almost three times the size of the usual owl, and pure black. The thing reeked of evil. The letters it carried were written on a piece of one-sided black parchment. One for Dumbledore, one for the student.

The hall was deathly silent.

It flew to Dumbledore first, depositing the letter. Dumbledore picked it up, but didn't open it in fear of what it would say. The owl flew to the top of the hall, circling like a vulture. Then it flew to the student. Harry.

Harry's breathing quickened as the letter dropped in front of him. All eyes were on him, watching him. Some with fear, some with pity. He reached for the parchment with unsteady hands, and opened it. Harry went white and stopped breathing, his eyes wide. The letter held a simple line.

Harry read it again. Then a third time, then a fourth. He shook his head.

"No," he whispered. Then a little louder. "No. No!" With that cry, a cry filled with such sorrow that no one there had ever heard another human make, he jumped from his seat and ran from the room.

Draco Malfoy watched him, felt his sorrow. Something was very wrong indeed.

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Harry ran through the halls, his tears blinding him. How could he be dead?

He didn't see where he was going until he found himself running across the ground toward the Whomping Willow. Without know how he did it, he quickly found himself inside the very room that he had met Sirius - and heard of his innocence. Sobbing, he threw himself across the bed, and cried himself to sleep.

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In the hall, no one made a sound, nor moved. Ron was just reaching for the parchment when it burst into flames - something none of the others had done. Dumbledore had opened his as soon as Harry had fled the hall, and read what had made him react so.

Dumbledore-

Dumbledore shut his eyes, covering them with one hand, elbow rested on the table. This death he taken personally. He knew Harry would lose whatever hope he had left. But he wouldn't let that happen.

He regained his composure, and looked at the professors around him, watching him. With a sigh, he started to speak.

"Severus, Minerva, please go look for Harry. He mustn't be alone right now. I must contact Remus." He stood up and walked from the hall. Draco watched him as well. The Headmaster is involved in this?, he thought. Who had died to make Harry and Dumbledore react so much? He decided to find out.

He finished his meal in silence, as most of the rest of the hall. They all felt that something had gone wrong. Some of the Slytherins were looking gleeful.

"Did you see the look on his face?" said one.

"I wonder who was killed."

"I hope it was someone really important."

"I bet Potter is going to be miserable!"

Draco had to restrain himself from commenting in such a way to get him in trouble. He left the hall as soon as he finished his meal. He knew where the Headmasters office was, even though he had never been there himself, as he was a Prefect. He told the gargoyle the password (Gaggle Gumdrops) and walked up the stars to the office. He knocked on the door.

"Come in." Draco opened the door to see the Headmaster in the middle of writing a letter. Dumbledore looked up as he entered. "Mister Malfoy, what may I help you with?"

"What happened to Harry?" was out of his mouth before he could think. He blushed faintly. Dumbledore regarded him with weary eyes.

"Very well. Someone very important to Harry is dead." Draco was about to ask who when Snape and McGonagall came into the room.

"Albus, we can't find him. He isn't anywhere in Hogwarts," said Snape in a rush. Dumbledore looked alarmed.

"Are you sure? Did you check everywhere? The dungeons? The Astronomy Tower?"

"Yes." Dumbledore sighed a weary sigh.

"Have Hagrid go into the forest and consult mister Firenze to join the search. Have him and the other centaurs search the entire forest. Let us hope he hasn't done anything foolish. I will talk to Mister Weasley and Miss Granger to see where he would've gone." Draco left, unnoticed. He had an easier way of finding Harry.

Once outside the school, he took a rose out of his pocket. It was very similar to the one Harry had, except that it was pure white. He concentrated, and felt a tug toward the most violent tree on the Hogwarts grounds. Why would he be there?

As he neared, the tree moved, and started to hit him. Draco picked up a stick and touched a knot of the tree. It stopped moving. Draco was very surprised. How he knew to do that was a mystery to him.

He slipped into the opened in the trunk and followed its passageway until he came to a door. He walked through it. In it were furnishings that were torn, and broken by something not human. He crossed the room uneasily. He came across some stairs and walked up them quietly. Then he saw a door, a weak light shining through it. He opened it and stepped inside.

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A/N: Ha! Cliffy! Eek! Don't kill me! Please! Just wait a few more chapters! I promise everything will be fine!