Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in the Gryffindor common room studying for their pre-holiday exams. Harry looked into the fire and started to doze off. "Harry, wake up. We have exams tomorrow. You have to study," Hermione said, pulling him out of his trance.

"What? Oh, sorry," he said, "What time is it?"

"It's ten minutes to midnight," Ron answered, "I'm going to bed."

"Yeah, me too." Harry followed. He looked at Hermione.

"Well, I'm not. I want to pass my exams," she snapped.

"Hermione, we can't learn anything if we don't get any sleep," Ron commented. Hermione ignored him and turned back to her work. Harry shrugged his shoulders and climbed the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

"Hermione is going to make herself sick if she keeps working this hard," Ron said.

"Yeah, but you know she won't listen to us," Harry replied.

Ron shrugged his shoulders and closed the bed curtains. Harry followed the example and fell asleep quickly. He found himself walking past hundreds of dementors but, for some reason, they didn't affect him. The dementors changed into Death Eaters. As he walked past, they gave a small bow. He reached the center of the group and saw that he was surrounded by them. 'My Lord,' they called, 'My Lord, tell us.'

Harry could feel something or someone searching through his memory.

A cold voice that was not his own, spoke to the crowd. 'Many years ago I was told that a child would be born who would be able to destroy me forever. That was only part of the story. I now have the entire one. 'The one with the power the vanquish the Dark Lord approaches….born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies….and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal but he will have powers the Dark Lord knows not…..and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives….the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…. This my friends, is the prophecy we have been seeking. Harry Potter will die…'

Harry forced himself awake. He sat up shaking and realized that he had forgotten to practice Occlumency before he had gone to sleep. He went to the window and looked out. His mistake had allowed Voldemort the key piece of information he needed in this war.

Harry could hear Ron snoring and wondered what it was like to sleep peacefully every night. He had always been jealous of Ron, ever since he had met him on the train to school. Ron grew up in a nice family, had lots of brothers, and didn't have a lot of people watching him wherever he went. Harry would have given anything to have grown up like that but instead he got the Dursleys and a curse. He looked down into the common room to find that Hermione had finally gone to bed. Harry sighed. He wished he could talk to Sirius again. If he were still alive, he would be a free man now and Harry would have a parent to confide in.

Harry was determined to stay awake until morning. Looking at the clock, he found that it was only four' o'clock. A few more hours, he thought, only a few more hours. With that, he pulled out some books and proceeded to study.

Ron woke the next morning to find that Harry was already awake and dressed.

"Hey," yawned Ron, "you're up early."

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep," Harry replied.

"Oh, did Hermione ever go to bed?"

"I think so," Harry answered. He didn't want to tell Ron about his dream yet. Telling him and Hermione about the prophecy was hard enough. He didn't want to see the looks on their faces if he told them Voldemort had found it due to a slip on his part.

"C'mon, let's get breakfast," Ron suggested, "We have exams today." Harry nodded and left with him.

Dumbledore sought Harry out during the holidays at Grimmauld Place. With all the studying and exams, Harry had forgotten to tell him about his dream.

"Harry, is there anything bothering you? Your teachers have told me that you were quite distracted during your exams," Dumbledore started.

"I….well," Harry stammered, "The night before exams I fell asleep before… uh… practicing Occlumency."

"Yes, go on," Dumbledore said concerned, his eyes troubled.

"I had a dream and Voldemort was in it, and, uh, well,….. I was him again and I, no he told the Death Eaters the prophecy," Harry managed to get out.

"The whole thing?" Dumbledore asked.

"Y-yes," Harry stammered, "I'm so sorry."

Dumbledore shook his head, "No, don't be sorry. You tried your best to keep it from him."

They sat in silence for a while. Harry felt awful. It was his fault, it didn't matter what Dumbledore said. He had made the battle harder for himself.

"Perhaps Professor Ventrallis wouldn't mind giving you a few extra defense lessons. She could teach you quite a bit," Dumbledore suggested.

Harry nodded and Dumbledore left the room. There was something about Professor Ventrallis that he couldn't quite place. She looked young, yet she had knowledge that could rival Dumbledore's. Ventrallis had come out of hiding to teach a year and a half was the only defense teacher to last more than a year. She had also said that her family had been killed. in the first war. Dumbledore was right though, she would be able to teach him a lot. Harry wondered if Professor Ventrallis could teach him the Unforgivable curses. He had been trying to look for them in different books, but he hadn't been able to find much of anything. He knew the incantations for them but not how to conjure them.

"Hey, are you coming down to lunch or not?" Ron asked, poking his head in the room.

"Oh, yeah," Harry said, getting up.

Harry walked into the kitchen to see that Tonks, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Ventrallis were visiting for lunch. "Hello Harry. Enjoying your holiday?" Ventrallis asked.

"Yeah, it's okay," he answered. She nodded and turned to speak to Lupin.

"I think she likes him," Ron whispered to Harry.

Harry shook his head, "No, she's with Snape, remember?"

Ron shrugged his shoulders and continued eating. Harry couldn't believe that anyone could like Snape. He and Ron had found them kissing each other in an empty classroom by mistake the year before. Thankfully, Ron and Harry had been under the Invisibility Cloak so they weren't caught. Not long after, they had made their relationship known throughout the school. It was a mystery to the students what she saw in Snape, and, after a year of wondering, they had yet to figure it out.

"Is something bothering you, Harry?" Lupin asked.

Harry looked up, "What? Oh, no, not really." Lupin nodded and turned back to Ventrallis. Harry returned to his thoughts. Bellatrix Lestrange's words came to mind. 'You have to mean them.' It can't be that, Harry thought, I've tried that already.

"Professor Ventrallis," Harry spoke up.

"Yes?" she answered.

"Do you know how to perform the Unforgivable curses?" he asked.

Professor Ventrallis thought for a moment, "Yes, I do. Why do you ask?"

"No reason really. I just want to know how to use them," he answered.

"Or, is it that you want to be able to use them against the Dark Lord the next time you meet?" she countered.

There's no fooling her, Harry thought.

"Don't look so shocked Harry," Ventrallis laughed. "You are fighting a war against the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters. And I know that you are noble enough to have a reason for using Unforgivables."

"You don't know that much about me." Harry said coldly.

"You'd be surprised, Harry," she retorted.

Harry gave her a long look and left the room.