One Day Too Late
Harry's POV
I was walking down a darkened corridor. It seemed to be about midnight and the halls were completely deserted. I knew that if I was caught lurking down the corridors at night I was sure to receive detention or even a far worse punishment. As I rounded the corner towards the Gryffindor common room, I heard someone sobbing quietly. I slowly stalked towards her and saw that it was my friend Hermione. I wanted to ask what she was doing out of her dorm but I knew that wasn't important right now. ''Hermione...?'' I asked softly. She looked up with fear in her eyes and pointed around the corner. ''Harry! It's the Dark Lord! He's wandering around the school looking for you!'' She said between sobs. I pulled out my wand and aimed it, ready to defend myself and my friend from anything the Dark Lord might throw at us. He turned the corner and focused on me. ''Expecto...Expect...''The spell refused to leave my mouth. It was there, it just refused to let itself out. Hermione looked up in fear as I froze. Voldemort chuckled. ''Avada Kedavra!'' I saw a flash of green light, blurred vision, then nothing.
''Harry? Harry!'' I gasped and opened my eyes, sweat dripping down my neck. I looked over to my right and saw Ron at my side, looking worried. ''Harry, are you alright? You were tossing and turning all night.'' He said. I glanced at my sheets and saw Ron was right; my sheets were halfway off the bed and my blanket had tumbled to the floor. He handed me my glasses and I placed them on my face. ''Yeah, bad dream.'' I replied. Ron's worried look stayed glued to his face. ''Was it about the basilisk again?'' He asked. I shook my head. ''No, there wasn't any basilisk. It was just him this time. Me, him and Hermione.'' Ron raised his eyebrow in confusion. ''What was Hermione doing there?'' He wondered, more to himself than to me. ''She was crying. I guess she was worried about me or something.'' I said. Ron relaxed. ''Well, hey, it was just a dream.'' He stood and headed for the door. ''C'mon mate. Let's go eat some breakfast.'' I was shaky and exhausted, but I managed to pull my robes on and follow him to the Great Hall. ''Harry, this is the sixth nightmare you've had in one week. I think it's a sign, Harry.'' Hermione said. I shrugged. ''It could be. I'd rather not think about it until we know for sure what's it's a sign of.'' I said. Ron and Hermione looked at each other. ''Harry, I'm saying it might be a sign of Voldemort's whereabouts.'' Hermione said. Ron shuddered when Hermione said Voldemort's name, but we ignored it. ''So,what are you saying, Hermione? Are you saying that Voldemort's plan this time is to somehow get into the castle and hope I freeze like in the dream? I don't think that's likely.'' I replied. She shrugged. ''I never said his plan would be exactly like in the dream.'' She said. Merlin, I hated when she was right. I know she's the intelligent one out of our group, but that just made me even more nervous as to what Voldemort's plan really was. I could tell Ron was thinking the same thing because his facial expression turned from curious to horrified. Or maybe it was the fact that Fred had just yelled something really loud to intentionally scare Ron. I didn't know. What I did know was that I'd been Voldemort's target ever since I'd arrived at Hogwarts in my first year. Now that I was in my fifth year, I'd fought him enough times to know at least what to expect. I realized that thinking about it would only make it more nerve-racking when I had to face him, so I pushed the thought out of my mind... at least for now.