Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything that is mentioned in the books. Many of my ideas came from the Lord of the Rings but this story has nothing to do with that but readers may recognize a few similarities. I don't own LOR either. I also don't own My Dog Skip.

Updates may be slow because I'm a college student and teachers will not understand that the reason your homework is lateis because you had a Harry Potter epiphany and had to do some work to get it out of your system

Strangers In The Mist

Harry was dreaming of her again. He dreamed of her often these days. He didn't know why she was in his head or who she was. Maybe she was real or maybe just a fantasy. Whatever she was, she was a more welcome site than Voldemort.

She was beautiful. That was the only word that could truly describe her. Her hair was waist-long and flowing in the breeze. The paleness of her skin made her seem to glow in the moonlight. She wore a light blue dress with a star pendant around her neck. She stood upon the same bridge every night, staring at the water flowing beneath, with a sadness in her eye. She was waiting for something. She never spoke to him. Mainly because he never showed himself to her until too late. He just hid in the bushes and watched her.

She didn't have to speak to him though. Somehow he knew what she was feeling. He didn't know where she lived or if she was real. He wanted her to be real. When he looked into her eyes he saw the knowledge of someone who has lived a thousand years. There was always pain and loneliness there. Sometimes he would work up the courage to go up to her. She would always smile and take his hand. Every time she touched him the pain in his heart went away. She would open her mouth to say something but no words came out. She wanted to tell him something, but never got the chance too because……

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK. "Wake up boy! It's time to make breakfast." Harry woke up and almost fell out of bed. "Damn." He was always woken up too soon. Harry rubbed his eyes, smoothed his hair, and got up to get ready for another day. He hated waking up these days. Inside all he felt was sadness. He missed Sirius. His friends wrote to him daily asking him to talk to them. He couldn't talk to them though. It was his fault he was dead. If he'd only listened. All he wanted to do was be able to go to sleep and not dream. Seeing the dark haired girl was ok. She took the pain away. Voldemort was the only reason he tried to stay awake. People were dying. They were suffering and dying and he couldn't do anything about it.

Every day some member of the Order would write to him and he'd write a short letter back so they wouldn't worry. They never told him what was going on or what Voldemort was doing. Remus was one of the few adults who wrote to him and put effort into talking to Harry. Harry once saw the movie My Dog Skip on television, when the Dursley's had gone to see Dudley box in a tournament and given him free reign of the house. In it the movie there was a phrase that came to mind after Sirius's death. "I was an only child and he was an only dog." They were the only ones left. If they couldn't rely on each other, then who could they. Harry often thought, if he would talk to anyone, he would talk to Remus about how he felt.

After breakfast was finished, Harry was given a list of outdoor chores to take care of. Harry was outside raking up the freshly mowed grass when he was suddenly hit in the back of the head. He grabbed his wand, hidden in his back pocket, and turned around in a flash. There was no one there. He looked down at the ground only to see a tiny, confused owl. "Hello Pig." The tiny owl shook his head and launched himself off of the ground. He flew around Harry's head happily, showing off a letter tied to his leg. Harry grabbed the bird and took the letter. It was from Ron.

Hey Mate,

Hope you doing well with the muggles. We've moved out of the burrow for a while and are staying you-know-where. Mom's been livid that Dumbledore hasn't let you come stay with us yet. He says it's too dangerous for you to leave your family.

School starts soon. Yuck. I have some bad news for you. Like I said Dumbledore thinks it's too dangerous for you to leave where you're at so your not going to be allowed to join us to buy our school things this year. I'm sorry mate. Mom offered to get your things when we go. I guess we'll see you at Kings Cross. Don't be glum. It's only a few more days.

Technically I think you're lucky not being here. Hermione is driving me crazy. "Ron you need to study. You're homework isn't halfway finished and you're playing cards! Ron how can you say that about Blah Blah Blah, Blah Blah." She says Hi by the way.

Honestly, she's nutters sometimes. We've got plenty of time to study. It's only our 6th year.

I'm also supposed to tell you to expect some visitors sometime soon to escort you to Hogwarts. I can't tell you when but I'm giving you the heads up. Anyways see you soon.

Ron

Just another thing to make him depressed. At least he could leave the Dursley's soon. All he had to do was wait a few more days. He wondered what sixth year would be like. Probably as chaotic as all the other ones. At least this year he could take new classes. He also wondered what type of DADA teacher he would have. Ron and he had a bet going. Ron bet one galleon that the teacher would be evil and Harry bet that this one would be on their side. It was a sure bet. After everything that had happened Dumbledore would surely be more cautious when picking a teacher this time. Wouldn't he?

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