A/N: Sorry it took so long u guys: I was in Australia for 17 days, so I didn't have much time to write. Anyways, this chap is a little slow, but I promise it gets better next chap! And it's kinda short, but I wanted to get something up : Also, thanks to those of you who answered my questions last time. I really appreciate it! Enjoy!

Full title: Consequences of a Sleepless Night

Harry decided he would risk coming down to breakfast without his invisibility cloak. Waking well before any of the other boys, Harry quickly dressed. Slipping into the bathroom, he rushed through his morning ministrations. Picking up his book bag, Harry exited the dorms and made his way down to the great hall. As he was one to the first students there, he had his pick of the seats. Figuring he would test his luck, he chose a spot directly in the middle of the table. Pilling food onto the plate, he began eating slowly, waiting for the others to arrive.

Watching with trepidation, Harry saw half of Gryffindor file into the hall in little clumps. Each group saw him, and immediately distanced itself, leaving him sitting alone between two full ends of the table. Finally, Harry saw Ron & Hermione enter, followed closely by dean & Seamus. Hermione caught sight of him and, dragging a protesting Ron behind her, took the seat to Harry's right. Harry saw Dean glance at Seamus, shrug, and take the seat across from Harry. He saw Seamus hesitate, but he must have decided that he would rather deal with Harry and keep Dean's friendship than ignore them both.

"Good morning, Harry!" Harry had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at her too-cheerful-to-be-real tone. Hermione babbled on; "I can't wait to get my schedule! So, what classes are you boys taking this year?' without waiting to hear their answers, Hermione rushed on, "I've got advanced ancient ruins…"

As she began to list off her classes, Harry zoned out, leaving only part of his attention on Hermione so that he would later remember the classes he could find her in. He was mildly surprised Hermione hadn't brought up his imprisonment. He supposed she had decided it wasn't worth invoking his wrath in front of Ron. But Harry new this wasn't the end of it; he would undoubtedly be interrogated by Hermione later.

Harry heard a clap echo though the hall. He looked up at the head table and was immediately gripped with fury, for there, sitting in the headmaster's chair, was Umbrage. Harry clenched his hand around his fork so hard he could feel the silver slicing into his hand. At the sharp pain, Harry regained his senses enough to shake his head, clearing it of the blinding rage that had temporarily commanded his senses. He opened his eyes and focused again on the front of the room. In the few seconds it had taken him to reach his calm, not much had changed: Umbrage was standing now standing on her char and repeatedly clearing her throat, but her authority was obviously lacking. Most of the students were completely ignoring her, choosing instead to continue with their conversations, but a few were looking expectantly towards Umbrage. The witch in question, who seemed to have reached her limit, lifted her wand in the air. Muttering a spell Harry could net decipher, she flicked her wrist, causing a resounding crack. After the shrieks of the students had died down, he finally turned to face Umbrage.

"Well, good morning to you all." Harry smirked at the exaggerated sarcasm in her voice. At least she could tell it was NOT a good morning, or at least it wouldn't be if he had anything to say about it. "I would like to announce that your heads of houses will now be passing out your class schedules. The majority of you will begin your classes in less than an hour. Do not be late. That will be all."



Harry noticed that by the time she had finished her second sentence nearly all the students had blocked her out. At least his enemy wasn't popular with the students: that would make his life a hell of a lot easier.

"So, Harry, how come they let you come back into 7th year, even though you left in 5th?"

Harry glanced up at Dean, surprised he would speak to Harry with Seamus right there. "Didn't you hear? Dumbledore was able to force themto allow me to study while I was in Azkaban." Hermione and Seamus both flinched when he said the word Azkaban, while Ron just glared.

To Harry's astonishment, Dean just laughed, "I never figured you to be the independent study type, Harry."

Well, Dean was proving to be an unpredictable faction, that's for sure. "I resent that, Dean, I can study if I have to." Harry glowered at him, but he appreciated Dean's attempt at lightening the atmosphere.

"Really? I wouldn't have guessed." Dean continued to laugh. Harry stuck his tongue out at him, and as he felt the corner of his mouth twitch up, he realized this year might actually be fun. Of course, he still blamed his classmates for his imprisonment, and he still wanted revenge on them, but perhaps he wouldn't have to avoid them completely.

At that moment, Harry heard McGonagall's voice call from the head of the Gryffindor table, "Gryffindors, here are your class schedules. If you need to make any changes, please report to me no later than tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 and I'll see what I can do.

With a popping sound, a piece of parchment fell out of the air in front of Harry's nose. He reached out and grasped it before it could fall into his food. Scanning the parchment, Harry was pleased to see that all this classes were those expected for a 7th year student. Apparently all his hard studying had paid off.

This year, Harry was determined to ace every one of his classes. He was sick and tired of being the dumb hero, or the dumb criminal, as he had been all his life. He would show those idiots what he could do!

Suddenly, Harry was distracted by Dean and Seamus's conversation.

"Yah, me too; there was this huge wolf coming toward me, and he had glowing red eyes. When he snarled, I could see 15 cm fangs gleaming in his mouth. But the scary thing is, it was a real memory. I hadn't thought about it in years, but when I was 4 I got lost in the woods behind my house. It was getting dark, and I couldn't find the trail. All of a sudden, I heard something crashing through the brush behind me. I started running, panting, and after a few meters, I tripped over a tree root and fell. When I looked up, that wolf was what I saw. It's strange I'd have a nightmare about it now…" Seamus broke off as Harry gave a violent shudder at the word nightmare, causing his to drop his goblet and spill pumpkin juice all over the table.

Hermione, cleaning up the pumpkin juice with a wave of her wand, asked with concern in her voice, "What is…?"

Harry interrupted her, staring straight through Seamus with his eyes completely glazed over. "They're real, you know," he said with an absolutely toneless voice.



:What's real, Harry?" Seamus asked.

"Nightmares."

"Whadaya mean?" Ron snorted at Harry, rolling his eyes at the others.

Ignoring Ron, the other three tried to get Harry to explain, but no matter what they did Harry would not answer their questions, or come out of his trance.

fin de capitulo tres

A/N: Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think. Next chap we learn a little about Harry's time in Azkaban. It should be up the next couple of days. I already have it written, i just have to type it and edit. I should warn you, it has a bit of pain and blood (i have to earn the M rating, ya know? :P ). So if you don't like dark fics, much as it pains me to say it (tear), you prolly shouldn't keep reading, cuz it's just gonna get darker.