A/N: Hi again! I hope everyone liked the first three chapters, although I
personally thought they sucked. But, I do think that the story will get better
later on. In this chapter, there are more threats on Hogwarts, and more
threats on Harry. And, it's Christmas! Also, this is the first chapter that
doesn't start with one of Harry's dreams (which, by the way, do mean
something. They are very, very important to Harry, but he doesn't know that
yet.)! And, I can promise lots of fluff. PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!

Disclaimer: I own almost nothing. Only Harry and Hermione's Christmas
presents. Everything else belongs to the one and only J. K. Rowling.



Hermione woke up to dramatic screaming. Her entire dorm room woke up.
Hermione was the first one to get to the door, so she opened it, and they all
filed out, Parvatti complaining about losing beauty sleep. There were tons of
people from every year poking their heads out of their dorm doors, and people
gathering around the dying fire. Everyone was asking questions, and
Hermione heard several people saying, "Is it You-Know-Who?" Finally, she
saw her best friend, Ron Weasley's red hair coming toward her.
"Ron! Ron, what is it? Where's Harry?" She was so worried about Harry
lately, what with his only family left being killed, and his continuos threats
from Voldemort. Ron shook his head, as if nothing was wrong. She looked
past him, seeing Seamus and Dean helping Harry down the stairs. Hermione
felt her heart race as she saw how white his face was, and when she saw him
visibly shaking. She hurried over to him, helping him stand up.
"Harry! What happened?" He wasn't answering, so she turned to Seamus
and Dean.
"It was just another nightmare, nothing new." Seamus said carelessy.
"Nothing new? What do you mean nothing new? Harry woke up screaming,
waking up the entire house, and you think it's nothing new?" She was angry
with Seamus for acting as though nothing was wrong. Dean frowned at
Seamus, and turned to Hermione looking more concerned.
"Harry's been having nightmares for weeks now, and we're just pretty used
to it. Tonight was worse than ever, though." Hermione nodded, feeling
slightly calmer. She turned back to Harry, who had slumped down on a
chair, his breathing hard. She squeezed herself next to him, and hugged him.
She felt terrible for him. He was having nightmare so terrible that he woke
up screaming, and according to his dorm mates, he's been having them for
weeks. Harry's breathing calmed and he hugged her back. When they
separated, Hermione saw that several students were staring at them, looking
even more confused. Soon, Professor McGonagall walked in the room, along
with the headmaster. Hermione immediately left her spot next to Harry as he
stood up next to her. McGonagall looked worried and furious at the same
time, and Dumbledore looked powerful and there was a hint of worry in his
blazing blue eyes.
"What is going on here?" Professor McGonagall said, looking around at the
students. Everyone except Harry, Hermione, Ron, Seamus and Dean all
started talking at once. The only word distinguishable from several people's
mouths were, "There was someone screaming…" Both Professors took this in
without questioning anyone. Dumbledore looked at Harry, and knew who
had been screaming. Hermione felt Harry tense up next to her. McGonagall
sent everyone but the sixth year boys and Hermione back to bed.
"What happened?" Dumbledore said once everyone had gone back to bed.
Harry sat back down, and Seamus took over.
"Harry was having a nightmare, and he woke up screaming." Hermione
glared at him again. Ron shook his head, and spoke next.
"This has been happening for a couple of weeks now, but Harry has never
screamed this loud before." Dumbledore frowned.
"Harry's been having nightmares for several weeks?" All the boys nodded,
except Harry, who just sat on the chair, staring into space.
"And you say he's been yelling and screaming in his sleep?" Professor
McGonagall added, looking very confused.
"Yep. He talks in his sleep, moves his arms around, and wakes up
screaming." Seamus said, looking completely calm still.
"What sort of things does he say?" McGonagall said, looking at Harry.
Harry didn't even seem to know that people were talking about him.
"Things like…" Ron interrupted Dean, and said,
"Maybe Harry would like to tell them, so he can explain why he's saying."
Hermione nodded, agreeing with him completely. Everyone looked at Harry,
who still hadn't registered the fact that he was supposed to talk. Professor
Dumbledore cleared his throat, and Harry jerked. He looked around at the
group, looking very sheepish.
"Sorry, what did you say?"
"Professor Dumbledore wanted to know what kind of things you say in your
sleep." Hermione said kindly, taking Harry's hand in her own. Harry
frowned. "I talk in my sleep?"
"Yeah, you're always saying stuff like, "You'll never get me…" and "No, no,
no… I'm not going over on you're side…" Ron said, before Harry could get
too confused. Professor Dumbledore's frown deepened.
"If you'll excuse us, Mr. Finnigan and Mr. Thomas, I wish to speak to
Harry about this alone." He said, and the two boys left.
"Mr. Weasley, you said he moves around in his sleep as well?" Ron nodded.
"He reaches out his arms to catch something, and he has his hand closed over
something bigger, and he lunges at things." Harry looked finally annoyed
that he was being ignored. Ron went on about Harry's screaming and
talking. Finally, Dumbledore sent Ron and Hermione back to bed, saying
that he needed to speak to Harry completely alone this time. Hermione left
reluctantly, and went back to her dorm. All the way she thought about how
much she loved Harry. She had kept her crush bottled up for six long years.
She loved him ever since he saved her from the mountain troll in the girl's
bathroom on Halloween. When she finally got to sleep (which took her at
least two hours), she dreamt of Harry during their third year, when he was
at the Shrieking Shack.


When she went down to the Great Hall for breakfast, it was very early in
the morning, and there was hardly anyone at the Gryffindor table. But
Harry was so she immediately went to him. He was staring into space again,
so she put her hands over his eyes.
"Guess who?" He reached up and took her hands off his face, and smiled up
at her, rather weakly. She sat down next to him, holding his hand.
"Did you get anymore sleep last night?" He looked very tired.
"No, not really. Dumbledore kept me up for a while, drilling me about those
stupid dreams. They're really starting to get annoying." Hermione nodded
sympathetically. She wanted to know what his dreams were about, but she
didn't want to upset him any longer.
"Harry, at least Christmas is coming up… Why don't we do something?"
She really wanted to be with Harry alone for Christmas this year. Harry
looked doubtful.
"The last time we went out, something bad happened. What if Voldemort
actually attacks the school this time?" Hermione rolled her eyes impatiently.
"Harry, come on. You can bring the invisibility cloak and the Marauder's
Map to see what's going on here." Harry looked as if he was considering his
options, and then nodded. She smiled at him, and he smiled back, still
weakly. Soon, more students joined them at the table. Harry and Hermione
weren't able to talk to each other much, because the Weasley twins came
over to talk to Harry about Quidditch. Harry was the new captain, and he
had even more pressure upon his busy life. There was a practice tonight, and
it looked like Hermione wouldn't be able to spend too much time with Harry.
When everyone started to leave, Hermione got up with Harry, and they
headed off to their first class, Potions.
"Hey, Hermione, why don't you come to practice with me?" Harry asked as
he put his arm around her shoulder. She wanted to be with Harry, but she
always worried whenever Harry got near a broom. Although he was a good
player (he was probably the best seeker ever in Hogwarts), he had some bad
luck with falling off brooms and crashing into the goal posts. She eventually
nodded, and Harry kissed her. She turned red with pleasure and
embarrassment, because all the students in the hall were looking at them.
After Potions, which was as terrible as usual, the two headed for Defense
Against the Dark Arts. Ron and Lavender had been spending a lot of time
together, so Harry and Hermione were sort of shunted to the side. They
entered the classroom, and Hermione could tell that something was wrong-
or at least different. Professor Lupin, who was normally happy to see them
together, frowned when they entered holding hands.
"That is very inappropriate, you know," He said when they sat down at a
desk. "Maybe you should save that sort of things for outside the school."
Harry looked at Hermione and frowned. Lupin was acting very un-Lupin
like. They dropped their hands, but did not move away from each other.
Throughout the entire class, Professor Lupin acted nervous and jittery. He
kept throwing Harry dirty looks. Hermione started to get very worried and a
little mad at Lupin. Normally he was so kind to Harry, Hermione and Ron.
But not today. When they left, Harry walked up to him to say goodbye. But
Lupin merely looked at Harry in disgust and walked away.
"What do you think is up with him?" Ron said from behind Hermione. Harry
shrugged, and they all walked out of the classroom.


Hermione woke up to the sound of a hairdryer. It could only be Parvatti,
who had fixed her muggle hairdryer so that it would work in Hogwarts. She
sat up in bed, and looked around. The window's curtains were open, and a
beautiful scene met her eyes. The grounds were covered in lovely white snow
that sparkled in the morning sunlight. She squinted, and saw that some
people were having a snow fight on the grounds. After she got dressed, she
opened her presents. She got some new clothes from her parents, a book on
just about every charm in the world from Ron, a new set of makeup from
Parvatti (Hermione felt bad, even if the gift was useless, because she hadn't
gotten anything for Parvatti), and a couple of new dresses from Lavender,
all of which were different shades of purple. She noticed, rather depressingly
that there wasn't anything from Harry, but she supposed that he'd give it to
her later. She went to the boy's dormitory, only to find that everyone but
Harry had left. She smiled when she saw him. He looked so adorable when he
was in slumber, and she felt completely warm inside every time she looked at
his sleeping form. She sat on the edge of his bed, watching him sleep for
what seemed like hours, but in reality was only fifteen minutes. When he
awoke, Hermione's heart melted. He looked up at her with sleepy emerald
green eyes. She smiled down at him.
"What are you doing here?" He asked in a voice made soft from sleepiness.
"I wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas, and give you a Christmas
present." He smiled and yawned, getting up from his bed. Hermione saw that
he slept in an overlarge T-shirt and large flannel pants. She guessed that they
had once belonged to his late cousin, Dudely. He came back from the
bathroom, now wearing jeans and an emerald green sweater. They hugged
briefly, and then exchanged presents. Harry had gotten her a beautiful gold
chain that had a pendant that was in the shape of a heart and had rubies
and diamonds.
"Oh Harry…" She said as he put it on her. "Where did you get this?"
"Sirius gave it to me, right after the end of last year. He said that my father
gave it to my mother on their first date."
"And you're giving it to me?" Harry nodded. Hermione stared at him for a
few moments, and then leaned in to kiss him. When she pulled away, she
said, "Thank you Harry." H smiled at her. She handed him her present. He
opened the long package, and laughed. It was a broom.
"What model is this? I've never seen it before," he said while turning the gift
around.
"It's the newest one on the market. And you'll be happy know that you are
the first wizard besides the makers to ever lay hands on it." He hugged her
and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Wanna take it for a spin?" he said, getting up and dragging her towards
the window. Hermione shuddred.
"Harry… You know how I feel about riding… I don't know if I should…"
"Oh come on Herm, its Christmas! Please?" He said, giving her his lost-puppy
look. Hermione couldn't say a to that look, so she let herself be dragged.
Harry opened the window, and freezing cold air billowed into the room.
"Harry, you aren't thinking about taking off from the room are you?" But he
didn't have to answer her, because he let the broom out the window. It
hovered parallel to the window. Harry reached out his arm for her.
"But- Harry- how am I supposed to- get on- that thing?" Harry answered by
picking her up around the middle and carrying her to the window. He
lowered her onto the broom (despite her pleading not too). He came back
with his regular cloak and his Invisibility Cloak. He jumped from the
window, and Hermione nearly screamed with fright. He covered her in his
cloak, and then covered the both of them with the Invisibility Cloak. He
dived, with her clinging on for dear life, while holding onto Harry's middle.
"How about we give Ickle Ronniekins a little surprise?" Hermione was
about to ask what he meant, but she soon saw what he meant. Harry steered
the broom to go lower, so they were almost touching the ground. He scooped
up some snow, and then took them a little higher. They turned a corner, and
Hermione saw the snowball fight that she had also seen this morning. Ron
and Lavender were the only ones not participating. They seemed to be having
a snogging session, or, Ron just had Lavender pinned up against the wall for
no reason. Harry flew until they were directly above Ron's head. He dumped
the snow from his hand right on top of Ron, who broke away, screaming like
a girl. The cloak slipped off of them, and Lavender burst out laughing. Ron
however did not find Harry's prank funny, and started chucking snow in
every direction, but completely missing Harry and Hermione. Harry flew
them to safety. They spent the rest of the day flying over Hogwarts.


A/N: Okay, can you say FLUFF?!?! This was a really stupid chapter, but I
had to get something out. I won't be posting for 2 weeks, since I'll be on
vacation. But I will post as soon as I get back. Oh, yes, I want to say thank
you to everyone who reviewed the first chapters!