My stupid mouth has got me in trouble, I've said too much, again - John Mayer

"Dumbledore said not to tell," Hermione nodded curtly.

"I thought we went through this two years ago! Dumbledore explained to me that when he tried to keep things from me, then, it had been a grave mistake, and Sirius had died because of it!" Harry yelled.

"Hermione, I believe, if Harry's here, that would mean Ron's here, too. I'm pretty sure he'll want to talk to you," Elizabeth interrupted Harry's ranting.

"Oh, right," Hermione said, oblivious to what Elizabeth was doing. Hermione seemed to have learned to trust her. She got up and walked to Ron's compartment.

"Now, you can't tell them you know, alright? I like being in on things," Elizabeth made Harry promise.

"Okay."

"Well, apparently, while you were still awake, yesterday, Voldemort fell asleep, and in doing so, had a dream much like the dreams you had, where you were him for awhile. Mr. Weasley could tell after he said the exact location of the area, that that was the worst thing he could do. He looked into your eyes, and saw them a little discolored, like more red than green," Elizabeth stated, "I must admit, seeing your eyes like that was pretty scary, what with me meeting Voldemort and all, only just a month ago."

"We left our hiding spot because of me?" Harry said unbelievingly.

"Not because of you. Because of the person who dreamt of being you," Elizabeth explained.

"So why are we going to Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"We're going there because, right now, that's the only safe place we can go," Elizabeth said truthfully. "Would you like to play chess?" she requested kindly. She didn't want to upset Harry. She wanted to help him in anyway she could. Last year, she came to Hogwarts, expecting to just learn some magic and maybe make a few friends.

Well, she learned magic, and she found friends. But what else she found, she didn't know she wanted until she realized she found it. She also learned a great deal about how cruel life could be to the people who didn't deserve it.

Now, she understood, more than ever, how Harry felt. Lupin was killed by Wormtail, and that came as a great shock. He'd probably felt like he had no one left, but Elizabeth reminded him in letters, before he came to Australia, every three days, that he still had Ron, Hermione, and of course, her. She didn't know how much these letters helped, but she imagined they might have just kept him sane after he consented to keep them.

Harry had kept sending those letters back to her, and finally, after the fifth time she sent all the paper back to him including one more, he told her that she was getting on his nerves. Her exact words in the last letter were, 'You'll see how much these will help when you're thinking about Remus, and you feel like you've got no family left. I won't have you being depressed. It seems that I feed on your emotions, even though I'm an ocean away, and I do not like feeling depressed, so I'm going to do everything in my power to stop it.'

That time he didn't send the letters back; he started keeping them. Once, when he was feeling especially down, he read that particular letter, and it had made him laugh to think about how stubborn Elizabeth could be.

As Elizabeth played Harry in chess, the whole years' memories came back to him. Going to the twins' shop, finding out Hermione wasn't coming back that year, meeting Elizabeth, getting new classes, finding Hagrid's dog for him, the dementors attacking the school, learning Elizabeth was a big part of his past, another defense against the dark arts teacher going under, Lupin dying, everything that happened at the willow; it was almost too much to bear.

Harry looked up at Elizabeth's face, and saw in her eyes, the message, 'You don't have to do it, alone,' as if she'd read his mind.

All of last year, Elizabeth had been there for him, so he could talk and express his feelings. Right before they got off the train to go home, Elizabeth had confessed to liking him as more than a friend, leaving him to stir in his own thoughts for the first month of his vacation.

That first month of vacation was spent upstairs, in his bedroom at the Dursleys, thinking. He knew Lupin's death wasn't his fault. But he came to the conclusion with fierce determination that all the Marauders must meet the same solemn end. His former friends would not greet the only one left, Wormtail, kindly when he died.

After letting Harry win, Elizabeth told him she was going to find Hermione to bring her back.

"As nice as it is to be alone with you, Harry, I'm afraid Hermione might think I've let something slip," she said quickly as she exited.

Harry, who was sitting hunched over the chess board, wondering why she made such a stupid move to let him win, now sat back, contemplating the words, 'as nice as it is to be alone with you' 'Why does she confuse me so much?' Harry thought, 'But she doesn't really. It's not like she's mean or anything. But how can she like me for me; not for what I've done?'

Elizabeth and Hermione didn't come back for about an hour, and Harry was starting to get worried. He got up and walked around.

"You know damn well it didn't matter if he knew!" Elizabeth screamed. Her voice seemed hoarse, like she'd been yelling for awhile.

"Dumbledore told you because he trusted you, and you betrayed him!" Hermione shouted.

"I saw it for myself! Dumbledore didn't have to tell me! It doesn't take me very long to put two and two together, Hermione. Harry has a right to know. And if I betrayed Dumbledore, oh well! I'd much rather betray him than betray Harry!" Elizabeth defended.

"What's this? You're fighting for me?" Harry asked Elizabeth.

"Harry, you must feel so aggrieved!" Hermione said, trying to understand.

"Actually," Harry paused. He saw the dark humor in Elizabeth's eyes and thought, 'If only she know how much I changed…' "I don't."

"You don't?" Hermione questioned sounding really confused.

"I've gotten over the stage where I shoulder all the responsibility, Hermione," Harry replied.

"So, you're not going to take responsibility for anything ever again?" Hermione questioned sarcastically.

"No, I'm just not going to start blaming myself until I've completely thought it over," Harry responded casually.

Hermione had expected a row, not his normal tones, so she switched gears to Elizabeth.

"I still can't believe you told him! Doesn't matter if he doesn't care! You weren't supposed to tell him anyway!" Hermione yelled.

"Hermione," Ron said tentatively, "Are you looking for a fight?"

"No," she answered vehemently.

"Well, then…put a sock in it!" Ron replied, undeniably louder and more confident.

Hermione didn't speak again until they arrived at Hogwarts.

"How'd they know you told me?" Harry asked.

"I guess Hermione saw right through me. She stayed by the compartment door after we thought she'd left," Elizabeth said.

The train stopped and everyone exited the large locomotive.

"Welcome back, everyone," Professor Dumbledore greeted. It wasn't a happy greeting, but a somber one. They walked to the thestral guided carriages and left for Hogwarts. Harry was glad to be home.