Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling

Voldemort's high, cruel laugh mingled with the scream of the man kneeling at his feet. He raised his wand and Harry woke up.

Harry breathed heavily and swung himself out of bed. He looked over at Ron's bed, and seeing it deserted, got dressed and headed down to the Great Hall.

Hermione and Ron were sitting together in the middle of the Gryffindor table. Harry made his way over to them and began pouring himself a glass of pumpkin juice. Hermione set down her newspaper and looked at Harry.

"Ron told me that you were muttering in your sleep again," she informed him. Harry glared at Ron, but Ron was busy shoving eggs into his mouth and didn't see him.

"Harry, you need to stop having these dreams!" Hermione scolded him.

Harry sighed, "I'll try."

Hermione glared at him. "Obviously that hasn't been working. You need to do something about it! Maybe you should ask Snape for more lessons."

Harry stood up. "I'm going," he snapped. "I'll see you around." He whirled around and headed outside towards the Great Lake. Sitting down under a tree, he stared absentmindedly at the rolling waves.

"Hi Harry!" a voice called. Harry looked up and saw a lot of blond hair, and a pair of radish earrings.

"Hi Luna," he replied.

"Why are you out here?" she asked. "I thought you would be inside with Hermione and Ronald."

"I need a break from them," he admitted.

"Yes, Hermione can be very outspoken at times, and Ronald is rude a lot," she said. "Would you like to come with me? I'm going to feed the thestrals. I bought them some chickens last time I was at Hogsmeade."

"All right," said Harry. At the very least, it would be something to get his mind off Voldemort and whatever he was doing now.

"Come on then!" she said, and dashed off into the forest, Harry in tow.

Fifteen minutes later, Harry and Luna were sitting in the shade, watching the thestrals tear at a pile of bloody chicken meat.

"Do you want a sandwich?" Luna asked. "I made a couple in case I got hungry."

Harry, who was in fact getting very hungry, took one. After a few bites, he turned to Luna.

"Do you come out here often?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she said. "I don't have a lot of friends that I hang out with, so I come here. Though I've come here less now that I'm in Dumbledore's Army. Everyone there is so friendly. But I don't want to forget about these friends," she added, gesturing at the thestrals. "Do you think they get lonely?"

"Oh, er, I don't know," Harry said honestly.

"I hope that they don't. I mean, they have each other, but I've never seen anyone other than you and Hagrid pay any attention to them."

"Oh."

They ate in silence for the next few minutes.

"Thank you for coming with me, Harry."

"No problem."

Tada! Sorry, I'm not very good at endings. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Any and all reviews are welcome!