To Say Goodbye

To Say Goodbye

Chapter 4

Harry sank to the floor in shock. With his mouth hung open, he chocked out a simple "no" before Hagrid lifted Ginny from his wooden table.

"If we hurry, we might be able to keep her alive for a few more hours," Hagrid told him sadly as he made his way towards his front door. Harry still sat on the floor, his eyes red from crying and he couldn't speak.

Hagrid, not wanting to waste any more time, left Harry and took Ginny to the school. How can he be so calm about all of this? Harry thought to himself while he attempted to pull himself off of the ground, but was shaking so violently that he only fell back down.

He dragged himself over to the table where Ginny had been lying and stared at the blood that nearly covered it. Millions of emotions were flying through his head as he ran his finger through her blood. He wondered if her blood was poisonous, and what would happen if he were to drink it. The last thing he wanted was to be alive without Ginny, he couldn't live without her, it just wasn't possible.

His pain was intense and his sadness was filled with fury. Harry's breath was quick and deadly, he wanted to kill the thing that was killing his first love; he wanted the owl.

Harry found his strength once more and threw himself off the floor then made his way to Hagrid's front door, he had made up his mind, he was going to kill that owl and no body was going to stop him.

Once outside, he found himself running back into the woods. The sun was rapidly setting and dark shadows were illuminating themselves eerily as the howls and barks from the terror that lived inside the forest were awakening.

His fists were stark white and felt numb. His face felt like it was being pinpricked by the icy wind that tore through the trees. Harry saw the familiar area he had just been too, the place he had seen the owl, the place that would bring Ginny to her death.

He sped up as reached the clearing, his anger evident in his livid face. Harry jumped into the clearing and made his way towards the perch the owl had been resting on earlier.

"Where are you!?" he screamed, not really expecting anyone to answer, but was attempting to relieve some of his anger. He picked up a large stick and waved it violently. "Show your self you coward! I'll give you what you gave Ginny!" he cried, then sank to the damp ground in another set of tears.

The pain he wished he would never have to experience had come to him. He had never really lost anyone except for his parents, but he was too young to understand then. Now however, he wished he could join Ginny in death so he wouldn't have to feel this way.

"She's dying..." Harry sobbed quietly to himself. "She's dying, and it's your fault! The moment I start to love something you take it away!!" he screamed, not quite sure who he was yelling at, let alone whom he was upset with.

"Well, well Harry Potter," came a cold voice from behind him, "was it really our fault? Or was it your own?"

Harry didn't need to see whose face that was hidden under his Death Eater robes, his voice was proof enough to who he really was. "I didn't kill her," Harry glowered, "I would never want to hurt her!"

The man laughed deeply then took a menacing step towards Harry. "Is that so, Harry?" he asked as the owl landed a mere five feet from the Death Eater. "Did you really love her?"

Harry glared at the owl, then back at the Death Eater. "That's none of your business," he spat as a single tear fell down his cheek.

"It is very much my business," the man spat back at and in two swift steps pinned Harry to the owls perch. "I don't believe that was part of our little deal."

Harry's eyes hardened, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, but I believe you do, Harry. I believe you know exactly what I'm talking about," the man slithered while several other Death Eaters began to emerge from the dark forest.

Harry noticed the sun had set and the sky was lit with millions of twinkling stars, this brought his attention away for a moment and left him feeling relived. The man shook Harry back to reality, "You weren't suppose to fall in love with her, Harry," he told him gently. "Do you remember what you were suppose to do?"

Harry turned his head away from the man. His stomach hurt and his legs had gone numb. "What were you suppose to do?!" the man yelled, making Harry and the other Death Eaters jump.

Harry had started to shake, he was actually afraid of this man whom he knew wouldn't lay a finger on him. Yet he licked his lips and replied softly, "I was supposed to help you kidnap her."

The man chuckled and released Harry from his grip. "Good," Harry wasn't sure whether he should feel relived or dirty for telling this man the truth. "Now, Harry," the man started once again, "I'll give you one more month to do this deed; before I decide to kill you," Harry shuddered and drew in a long breath. "Do you understand?"

Harry nodded and said meekly, "Yes."

The Death Eater appeared to be smiling. "I will be back in one month to see the finished results," he told Harry while rounding up the rest of the Death Eaters. "Don't disappoint me."

The Death Eaters vanished leaving Harry alone with the dreaded owl and all of his mixed emotions. Harry peered cautiously around before lifting his stick and moving towards the owl, evil evident in his eyes.

Harry started to lift the stick before it was pulled out of his grasp. "Oh, and I forgot," the same Death Eater had returned, "leave the owl alone."

~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*

Ten minutes later, Hermione found herself running back to Gryffindor Tower, when she got there she was greeted by an unwelcome surprise. There standing, bright as day, was Ron and some girl Hermione didn't recognize.

She snuck her way up to the portrait door for she didn't want to interrupt the two while they were amidst their intense conversation. Ron, unfortunately, heard Hermione's presence and gave her a look of obvious fake shock.

"Oh, Hermione," he cried sarcastically, "I didn't see you coming! I'm so embarrassed!"

"I'm sure you are," Hermione told him in a dull tone as she lazily gave the password to the common room. She figured Ron was attempting to make her jealous by bringing around some random girl and flirting with her, but little did Ron know this girl didn't even faze her.

Hermione was about to walk through the door when she noticed Professor McGonnagall coming swiftly down the hallway. "Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley!" she called, her voice actually shook a little which was different form her normal stature.

Ron turned away from the random girl and Hermione caught her Hogwarts patch, revealing she was from Ravenclaw. Not very smart if she fell for Ron's jealousy trick, she thought to herself as she and Ron made their way up to the distressed Professor.

"Mr. Weasley," she began in a very solemnly, "I'm afraid I have some bad news for you."

Ron stood motionless next to Hermione, confusion was etched all over his face, "What is it?"

"It's about your sister. She was attacked by a creature from the Forbidden Forest this afternoon," the Professor continued very quietly.

"Is she ok?" Ron asked after the initial shock had worn off of him.

"I'm afraid not," she told him. "We believe she's dying."

Ron's face turned a milky white color and he looked as if he was near fainting. He turned and looked at Hermione, his eyes were full of tears, and he broke off towards the direction of the infirmary.

"Oh my god," Hermione choked out after Ron had disappeared from view.

"Miss Granger, I would very much appreciate it if you would go inform Mr. Potter what has happened. I don't think we should leave Mr. Weasley with that burden," Professor McGonnagall told her gently before she too started off towards the infirmary.

Hermione merely nodded her head and started walking off in a random direction. She didn't know where Harry was, and she didn't even know where to start looking.

"Harry's outside if you're wondering," the Ravenclaw girl told Hermione, pulling her out of her trance. "Ron told me that he was going to the lake."

Hermione looked at the girl. She was very pretty and had a sweet gentle voice. She was the kind of girl Hermione would want Ron to have. "Thanks, umm?"

"Abigail," the girl told her, "Abigail Smith."

Hermione smiled, "Thanks, Abigail."

Abigail accepted her smile with a warm one of her own, "Anytime."

~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*

Draco sat, alone, in the Slytherin common room. His arms were folded and he had a vacant look on his face as he stared deep into the fire. He hadn't meant to act like that towards Hermione, but he couldn't help himself. He never really wanted to hurt her, but he knew that day would come. Draco mentally kicked himself in the head and imagined throwing himself out of the large emerald chair and into the fire.

He paced the room for several minutes and wondered silently what Hermione was doing at that exact moment. He was about to make his way up to the boys' dormitory when his eagle owl swooped through an open window high above his head. He fell back a little in surprise.

The owl landed noiselessly on the top of the fireplace and glared at the young man, who was attempting to smooth out his now misplaced hairs. The owl was carrying a note in its mouth, a rather small note Draco noted as the owl simply dropped it onto the floor. Draco always thought this owl was rather impatient.

Draco scowled at the bird and shooed it away. "Stupid owl," he said under his breath as he started to open the envelope. He quickly realized it was a letter from his father, it read:

Draco,

I thought you might like to know that Potter has already done his fair share of our little deal, and I'm still anxiously waiting for you to even start yours. I know Granger is a hard one to convince, but she's a mudblood, she doesn't know any better and will give in soon enough.

Do hurry,

Lucius

"That prat, Potter!" Draco yelled in disbelief as he grabbed his cloak and draped it around his shoulders. "If I can avoid my father's taunting, he sure as hell can too."

Draco made his way out of the Slytherin dormitory and through the dungeons in less then ten minutes. He was about to turn down the hallway that led to the great hall when he ran head on into something much smaller than him.

The smaller thing was now sitting on the floor and looked very angry indeed, for its tangled curls flew in every possible direction and its robes were now wrinkled and turned nearly a quarter ways around. Draco couldn't help but laugh.

"Yes Malfoy," the 'it' on the floor spat, and Draco instantly realized it was Hermione. "I love your idea of manners. It's only courteous to throw someone to the floor and laugh. Great, really it is."

Draco helped Hermione up and then helped her brush herself off, but stopped when he noted her sour warning glare. He figured she was still upset about what had happened earlier that day. "In case you didn't notice, you ran into me and sent yourself flying into the floor, I didn't do a thing."

Hermione glared harder. "Well if you hadn't come ambling around the corner like you were going to murder someone I probably wouldn't have run into you," she told him acidly. "And let me tell you, it wasn't very fun. You're like a brick wall, literally!"

"Funny you should say that," Draco told her as he started towards the main doors, "that's exactly what I was planning to do."

"What? Act like a brick wall?" Hermione asked, completely confused.

"No," Draco rolled his eyes as if it were obvious, "I'm going to murder someone."

Hermione stared at him in utter shock, "Who?!"

"Your idiot friend Potter, that's who."

Hermione threw herself in front of him. "I'm going to tell him that his girlfriend is dying and you're going to kill him!?" she screamed while blocking his way to the door.

"You won't need to tell him," Draco told her while an angry flame of silver let loose in his eyes, yet again sending a jolt of fear underneath Hermione's skin.

"What do you mean?" she asked in a soft voice as she stopped Draco in his tracks. "Are you trying to tell me he already knows?"

Draco expression softened for she really had no idea. "Of course he knows, Hermione," he told her gently. "It's his own fault."

~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*

Harry remained in the small clearing near the middle of the Forbidden Forest. He looked like a crazed man, rocking back and forth with his arms crossed and shaking violently in the cold.

Every once in a while he could see the massive owl fly overhead in circular patterns. He knew it was watching him, waiting for him to do something dramatic. With the thoughts that were storming through his head, it wouldn't seem crazy for anyone to think that he was capable of killing someone at the moment.

"I didn't mean to do it," Harry cried within "This wasn't suppose to happen, not like this...She wasn't supposed to die..."

The owl screeched from high above, a haunting shrilly screech that sent fear through Harry's veins, and left a dull pain behind. "I wish none of this had ever happened...I wish I had never made that deal...I wish I had never gotten involved in the first place," Harry sobbed silently as a fresh tear fell loose from his swollen eyes.

He looked all around him and observed his surroundings. The trees acted like silent giants, soaking in his pain, and hiding his anger. The hard ground was damp with the rain that had just started to fall only minutes before, so the once star-studded sky had erupted in streaks of fierce lightning. "Even the heavens know how bad I've messed up."

Harry's head snapped up from its resting position on his knees when he heard the sound of twigs breaking and the crisp leaves rustle. He slowly stood and stared wide eyed into the direction of the sound, his body was in fight mode, and he was prepared to take on anything, for it didn't matter to him if he died, for in a sense, he already had.

"Quiet, Granger," Harry heard a harsh voice snap. The voice sounded so familiar, yet he was so lost in his own thoughts he barely knew who he himself was.

"No, Malfoy," Harry heard Hermione's voice crack, releasing a smile on his face for some odd reason, "I don't think I will."

"I think you better," Malfoy snapped back at her in an almost threatening tone.

"Really, Malfoy," Hermione asked sarcastically, "or what? Have you forgotten that smart you left your wand in your dormitory, and genius me did not?"

Draco and Hermione had stepped out into the clearing as Harry hid himself within the dark shadows of the trees. Harry saw Draco roll his eyes at the fuming Hermione, whose hair contained several twigs and fallen leaves, making her look somewhat like jungle woman.

Draco glanced around the clearing while Hermione attempted to clean herself of forest debris. "So, Draco, would you like to explain to me why exactly you have dragged me through the FORBIDDEN FOREST and into this FORBIDDEN CLEARING?" she questioned him with her hands on her hips, reminding Harry of Mrs. Weasley.

"For your information, Hermione," Draco started sweetly, "this is where we should be finding your dear friend Potter."

Hermione gave Draco a skeptical look, "Why would Harry want to be here?"

Draco figured that she would get upset if he told her now before she knew what was going on. So he took a few steps in forward and bellowed, "Harry, show yourself, I know you're out here."

Harry slid more into the shadows, but Draco was quite the sly one. He heard Harry sliding and dived into the shadows. Hermione heard the sound hard thuds on the ground then heard a sharp clap of someone being hit hard in the jaw. She could barely see Draco's platinum hair through the mist and darkness, but he looked as if he were fighting nothing but air.

"Harry," she heard Draco grunt, "quit fighting and get out of the shadows. Hermione and I would like a word with you."

The fighting grew intense. She heard Harry yelp and then Draco cough as he had been kicked in the stomach. Hermione wasn't sure what she should do. She knew Draco would probably like her to help, but she was beginning to find this all rather amusing.

"A little help, Hermione?" Draco asked, almost as if he had read her mind, in a sharp intake of breath.

Hermione sighed and made her way over to the shadows, pulled out her wand and muttered, "Lumos," the whole area shined a hazy vivid light that somehow held an eerie aura to it, making Hermione shudder.

Hermione gasped and held her hand over her mouth when she saw Harry. He was covered in mud and blood. His hair was filled with leaves and he had a black eye and a bruised lip. Draco's hair looked as if it could have been brown and his robes were completely disheveled.

"Thanks..." he breathed deeply in obvious exhaustion.

"No problem..." Hermione replied, still in complete shock.

Harry stood from the ground and was brushing himself off while Draco remained seated with the most loathing glare in his eyes. Harry returned his glare with a sour one of his own. "I can't believe you touched my hair," Draco grumbled. "You will die."

Harry glared profusely, "Shut up, Malfoy."

"Er...Harry?" Hermione whispered as she slowly made her way up to her almost unrecognizable friend.

Draco stood from the ground and walked to Hermione then laced an arm around her waist. "I think you owe Hermione an explanation, Potter," Draco told him evenly.

Harry continued to glare, "I didn't want to do it Malfoy; you know I'd never want to hurt anyone, especially Ginny."

"Shut up Potter, you knew just as well as I did that she was going to die, no matter what you did," Draco hissed through gritted teeth.

"Does anyone want to tell me what's going on?" Hermione's soft voice attempted to break into the conversation.

"I didn't know that she was going to die! They only wanted me to kidnap her!" Harry cried.

"Oh yes, of course," Draco mocked Harry's cry, "kidnap her, is that what they call murder now a days?"

"You'd know better then anyone else," Harry replied, taking a menacing step towards Draco, but Hermione intervened.

"Ok, ok, you two," she scolded, "let's talk about this like civilized people."

"A little hard for Potter, unless you call heartless murder civilized."

"I didn't want to kill her! It wasn't even my fault! It was the owl!" Harry cried yet again.

"The owl acted on your every wish and emotion, Potter!" Draco yelled. "You know you wanted her dead, and the owl could sense it!"

"Liar!" Harry screamed attempting to leap on Draco. "I didn't want her to die! I didn't think your father would kill her!"

Hermione fell back and stared at the two boys. They looked so young, standing there covered in mud, and they certainly were acting like children as well.

Draco pushed Harry away from him. "You know, just as well as I do Potter, that the moment you agreed to this, the moment you told my father yes and signed on the dotted line that she was as good as dead! Don't lie to yourself!"

Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it square into Draco's face, and for a moment Draco's eyes held a small sliver of fear before burning up into silver flares of pride. "I dare you," he whispered.

Harry held the wand steady, even though he said he never wanted to hurt anybody not even Draco. Hermione, without realizing it, had started to cry. Harry looked over at her as if he was just taking into account that she was there. He saw her tears, then instantly felt guilty and put down his wand.

"Why don't you tell Hermione about your half of the deal, Malfoy?" Harry asked quietly. "I bet she would love it, really, I'm almost positive she would."

With that, Harry disappeared from the clearing, just as the owl let out yet another haunting screech from high above. Draco turned to face Hermione, her eyes we covered in glass, and her hand was clasped tightly around the necklace that hung loosely around her neck.

"Draco," she whispered in the middle of a deep sob, "what was Harry talking about?"

Draco wasn't sure how to explain this to Hermione, she seemed too fragile at the moment, and he didn't want to break her anymore then she already was. So he stepped over to her, and held her closely, she didn't object.

"It's nothing, Hermione," he told her confidently, "he's only confused."

Hermione shook her head, yet Draco wasn't sure if she believed him or not. He looked down into her soft face, and then pried her iced hand away from her beautiful necklace. He examined the necklace closely as she stared off into space like she was in a trance, quietly weeping.

He thought her necklace was an odd shape, defiantly not something you would normally see on such an elegant necklace. And just touching it, he could feel an urge to rip it from her neck and rid her of it. However, at the same time, he could fell himself being drawn to her.

The owl soared across the sky, its feathers making the allusion of a flame burning across its metallic beauty. His eyes grew large when he noticed something he had never noticed before, a mark across the owl's underside that sent a jolt of panic racing through his heart.

He looked down into Hermione's face; she was looking back with a dreamy expression in her eyes. "What is it, Draco?" she asked wearily while glancing into the sky. "That owl..."

Draco listened intently into the forest and heard several voices creeping up to the clearing. "Hermione," he quickly whispered, "run..."

Hermione tilted her head to the side and looked at Draco with a look of pure curiosity. "Why?"

"Don't ask questions," he barked while grabbing hold of her hand and breaking into a full-fledged sprint, "just run!"