"It should be in the first room on your left... you know what you're looking for," Remus muttered as the group huddled in a patch of trees looking at a large forbidding house. Harry nodded solemnly. "And when you find it, get out of here... the anti-apparation ward was marked with the ribbon, don't forget," Remus continued, looking at Harry intently.

"Remus, we've gone over the plan a million times already. I think they know what they're doing. Let's just get it over with," Tonks said, a smile playing on her thin face.

"Fine... Tonks, you and I will go out first. When we give the all-clear, you three get in the house, find it, and get out," Remus said.

The trio nodded and pulled their wands out, ready to run in either direction. Remus and Tonks stepped out of the trees and looked around them. Neither one looked nervous, but they were clearly on alert.

Tonks turned back toward the woods and scratched her nose. Ron, Hermione and Harry looked at each other briefly before walking carefully into the open. Once they were a few feet out of the trees, they ran as fast as they could toward the house. They ducked into the dark house and after a few minutes of desperate searching, Harry found what he was looking for. He grabbed the horcrux. "I've got it," he whispered to his friends who were searching the room for the horcrux. Without hesitating, they began to move towards the door. Harry carefully hid the horcrux in his robes and they tried to move as casually as possible.

Ron was in the front and opened the door. Hermione gasped as she saw Remus and Tonks standing back-to-back fighting off half of a dozen Death Eaters. Remus glanced toward the house and looked horrified at the sight of the three frozen teenagers.

"Harry! Run, we'll hold them off."

Harry opened his mouth to yell in protest, but Ron and Hermione, who had been jerked into action, grabbed his arms and drug him into the small forest.

"Remus!!" Harry yelled over his shoulder, trying to break free of his friends' holds.

"Harry! We have to move," Hermione urged desperately as she heard the shouts of the battle looming closer.

"No!" Harry shouted, wrenching himself free of his friends at last. He heard Ron shouting after him, but took no notice. He wasn't going to abandon everyone and let them fight his battle. He was only twenty feet from the fight when he heard Hermione scream... in terror.

Harry spun around. He had to save Hermione... He shouldn't have left her to begin with. But no sooner had he turned around than he felt a searing pain in the small of his back. He collapsed to the ground, grimacing in pain.

"Ron," Harry cried through gritted teeth. He felt his mind get fuzzy. He bit his lip hard. The pain brought him back to his senses, but not for long. The black fog would not be kept at bay and Harry felt himself sink into the ground as he lost consciousness.

"Harry!"

Harry gasped and sat up. He felt thick covers fall off of his bare chest and he saw blurry figures standing above him.

"Are you all right, mate?"

Harry reached for his glasses on his bedside table, but someone beat him to it and handed them to him. Harry put them on and blinked at the two boys standing by him.

"What was that?" Neville asked.

"Where am I?" Harry demanded. "Is Remus okay?"

"What, yeah he's fine," Ron said, wrinkling his brow. "Harry, what's the matter?"

"And Hermione, she's okay?" Harry persisted.

"Harry... you're scaring us," Neville said nervously.

"Maybe you should go home for another week or so..." Ron suggested.

"What?! Why would I do that? No. I think I'll send a letter..." Harry muttered, thinking to himself.

"To who?" Ron prompted.

"To someone who will have some advice for me."

"Your parents?" Neville guessed.

Harry gasped again. His parents... they were alive. He had been dreaming...

"Pet?"

"Do you want me to get her?" Ron offered.

"No, no... that's okay," Harry said.

"So, what happened?" Ron asked.

"I had a dream... it was just a nightmare. Don't worry about it."

"You were shouting, though..."

"Who was I yelling for?"

"Me... and Hermione. Are you sure you're okay, mate?" Ron asked.

Harry nodded his head. "Go back to bed." The boys looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. Harry rolled over in his bed. The dream had felt so real. The pain in his back had hurt. He reached back and felt where he thought he had been hit. His skin was smooth. How could something that felt so real all be a dream. He had had dreams that felt real before, but they had been real. But this one couldn't have. He was at Hogwarts, not gallivanting across the country looking for horcruxes (though he thought he should be).

--

"Morning," Pet said, stifling a yawn.

"Good morning," a blond girl replied.

"Hey, don't look now, but he's looking at you," a girl with brown hair said, trying to hide a smile.

"Who? Pet asked unconcernedly as she helped herself to some orange juice.

"Troy," the girl with brown hair said, giggling.

"Really?" Pet demanded, her interest peaked. She spun around and locked eyes with a cute Hufflepuff boy. She smiled and turned around. "I do believe he is the cutest boy in this school..." Pet said as she tried buttering her toast with a clean knife.

"Hey, Amanda, tell her what you heard he said," the brown haired girl prompted.

"Tell me," Pet demanded.

"I heard he likes you and wants to ask you to Hogsmeade next weekend," Amanda said, beaming with happiness.

Pet rolled her eyes. "Yeah right," she said dismissively, though her friends shared a significant look as a blush crept onto Pet's cheeks.

"Hey, maybe he'll come see you play today at the match," Amanda said giggling.

"Of course he will," Pet said.

"Oh! A bit cocky, are we?" the brown haired girl asked.

"No, Candice... he's on the team," Pet said. "The Slytherin captain's mum took sick and he had to go home and be with her for a spell, so they postponed the Slytherin match until spring. But if you ask me, he had to get home to meet up with Voldie-wart."

Amanda and Candice each flinched, but otherwise ignored the name.

"So you get to be up close and personal with him today. Are you nervous?" Candice asked.

"Especially since it's your first match," Amanda added.

"Gee, you guys are just great at easing a girl's nerves," Pet said sarcastically.

"You're nervous?" the girls asked together.

"Well... no, but if I were, you guys would be horrible at cheering me up."

The three girls laughed and enjoyed a little bit of breakfast, once Pet learned that she forgot to put the jam on her toast.

Pet looked up and saw the rest of the team standing up to go to the changing rooms. She exchanged a quick goodbye with her friends before following the team out.

As soon as they got into the hallway, Katie Bell turned to angrily face her. "Where in Merlin is your brother?"

"And mine," Ginny added.

Pet looked at the four students standing in the entrance way. "They'll come. They wouldn't miss the match for anything," she said confidently.

"Come on, guys," Katie said, walking towards the door. The team followed her and Pet stayed a few paces behind.

Ginny fell back and smiled at Pet. "You nervous?" she asked.

"Nah. I've been playing with brooms for forever. So there are a few people watching me this time... big deal."

Ginny bit her tongue and smiled at Harry's little sister. "They'll come. Harry's yet to let us down," Ginny said reassuringly.

"I know," Pet said. Ginny rolled her eyes when the young girl wasn't looking and let the silence hang between them.

In the locker room, the team was moving restlessly. Ron and Harry were still not there and they were supposed to be on the field in two minutes.

"Where are they?" Katie demanded the silent team.

"Do you want me to go find them?" Pet offered.

"No. We'll just have to play short a seeker and a keeper. No sense in being short a beater as well. Okay... Just kidding, that's not going to work." Katie sat down with her head in her hands and thought for a couple of seconds before standing in front of everybody again. "Here's what we're going to do. Ginny, you've played seeker before, right?"

"Not as good as-"

"Doesn't matter. He's not here, so you're going to take his place and we'll be down a chaser. We'll manage. As for the no keeper, well, Demelza and I will have to be particularly good, now won't we?" she asked kindly to the small, pale girl on the bench. The girl nodded her head and gave a brave smile. "Okay, no reason to keep waiting. They aren't coming. Let's go," Katie said, trying (though failing) to sound confident.

The five players stepped onto the team, Katie leading the small group. She met a tall boy in the center of the field.

"Your back?" he asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I missed a lot of school last year and my parents wanted me to get the most out of school because of life," Katie said offhandedly.

"Captains... err... where's the Gryfindor captain?" Madam Hooch asked, noticing Harry's absence.

Pet spun around when she heard pounding feet on the field.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Ron yelled. Harry smiled at Katie as he took her place.

"Where were you?" she hissed as he passed her.

"Overslept?" Harry offered with a weak smile.

"You forgot," Katie accused. She let out a disgusted sigh. "Just go shake hands. I'll yell at you later." Harry laughed nervously.

"Captains, shake hands," Madam Hooch cried. Harry and the tall boy shook hands.

"Mount your brooms! On my whistle! Three... Two... One!" There was a shrill blast of the whistle and thirteen players kicked off to the air. Harry was frozen on the ground. He had mounted his broom but hadn't kicked off.

"Would all the players kindly get into the air?" Madam Hooch called.

Harry swallowed nervously. They need me up there... you have no reason to be afraid. You fell a hundred feet in third year! Harry thought about that for half a second. Or did I? Was that part of the dream? Harry was lost in his thoughts, both of his feet planted firmly on the ground. Madam Hooch walked over to Harry and jerked him out of his thoughts.

"Is there a problem Potter? Would you like to call your team back down? Or maybe you should go sit down?" Harry looked up sharply at the last suggestion. She was looking at him kindly, almost knowingly. "It's okay if you don't want to fly today, but I suggest you either pull in your substitute or you readjust your players... and please do so quickly." Madam Hooch said briskly, but not unkindly.

Harry swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat only to feel his heart jump into his throat. I can do this... he told himself.

He weakly kicked off of the ground, rising seven feet into the air. That was plenty high, he reasoned with himself. Madam Hooch released the balls and swooped into the air herself. She blew another whistle and all of the players were suddenly in motion. Except for Harry who was now frozen seven feet in the air. His teammates kept shooting him worried glances, but Harry was ignoring them. His goal was to keep the broom as steady as possible.

"Harry! What's your problem?" Pet cried as she dove to knock a bludger away from him.

"N-Nothing!" he yelled back. "Just looking for the Snitch."

Katie watched, horrified, as the Hufflepuff seeker flattened against his broom and streaked towards a gold glint only ten feet from Harry. She bit her lip as Harry remained focused on his broom handle. Pet hit a bludger, aiming for the Snitch. Harry didn't even flinch as the black ball whistled past him. But she had succeeded, the Snitch was again missing.

"Madam Hooch!" Katie yelled. "Time out!"

"Only the captains can call a time out," the woman responded. Katie looked at her teammates and held up a finger. Ginny and Demelza continued passing the quaffle back and forth but didn't try to score. Katie swooped next to Harry.

"Call a timeout," she demanded.

"Harry!" she yelled when he didn't respond. Harry jerked, and gasped as his broom moved slightly. He looked at her.

"What?" he asked defensively.

"Call a timeout," she said forcefully.

Harry nodded his head and motioned to Madam Hooch.

"What are you playing at?" Katie yelled the second her feet touched the ground. "Potter, you better have one hell of an explanation!" She waited for an answer, but Harry just stared at the ground. "Look, Potter, we can't play this game like this anymore! If you can't play, then take yourself out of the bloody game, but don't make us suffer through you botching it for us! Either get the hell out of here, or get some height and start playing! Do you realize that if your sister didn't have brilliant aim the game would be over... or you'd be in the hospital wing again?" Harry remained silent and the rest of the team waited awkwardly for the timeout to end.

Katie swore loudly, causing Madam Hooch to give her a sharp look. "Harry! Are you even listening to me?! What's it going to be? Are you going to play or leave? Take your pick."

Harry slowly raised his eyes to meet hers.

"I can play," he whispered.

"You sure about that?" Katie asked coldly. "Because I don't think you can. Hit the showers Potter. Ginny, you're playing seeker."

"I said I would play!" Harry shouted.

"Potter! Don't argue with me!" Katie yelled.

"I'm the captain!" Harry replied, his face turning red.

"Katie..." Ron said quietly.

"What? Are you going to defend him?" she demanded. She now had a bit of a wild look to her eye.

"Just let him play," he said quietly.

Pet walked up to Harry. "Look, you have to pull yourself together, okay? Do it for the team... this is my first game and I want to play with my brother, do it for me," she said in his ear. Harry turned to look at her. "Take a deep breath and pull yourself together." Harry closed his eyes and did as he was told.

"Are you about ready?" Madam Hooch asked the Gryfindor team.

"You all right, mate?" Ron asked, worry etched on his face.

Harry nodded his head. "Really," he added, looking at Katie. She glared at him, clearly doubting him, but nodded to Madam Hooch anyway.

"Yeah, we're ready," Harry said.

"Teams, mount your brooms!"

This time, fourteen players soared into the air, though Harry a little more slowly than everyone else. He carefully pulled one hand off of his broom handle and watched it shake and quiver.

"Watch for the Snitch!" Katie roared from across the pitch.

Harry jerked and began scanning the field for the Snitch. He knew he should be moving, but there was no way he was going to go anywhere when he was in the air. Harry saw a bludger zooming at him, but he couldn't move. His eyes watched as it came closer and closer and closer. The trance was broken, though, when a second bludger hit it off course.

Harry's eyes traced the path of the second bludger and smiled at his sister. It was a good thing she was brilliant at Quidditch. And that's when he saw it. Fluttering a mere two feet from Pet's foot was the Golden Snitch. Harry wanted to lean forward and urge his broom ever faster to get it, but he couldn't. It was as though his body was in a full body bind.

"Potter!" Katie screamed at him. "Get that or I will take your post away!"

Harry's mind kicked into gear and he slowly leaned forward, inching along, closer and closer to the Snitch. Harry kept looking at the ground, which seemed to be getting further and further away, though he knew it wasn't.

Luckily for him, Harry's hesitancy seemed to confuse the other seeker. The boy kept looking at the ground for the Snitch, expecting Harry to go into one of his famous dives. But of course that didn't happen. Harry waited until he was right next to the Snitch (which also seemed confused by Harry's slowness). He reached out and plucked it from the air. There was a minute or two of stunned silence while Harry began to inch his way to the ground. And then the cheers began. Harry couldn't help but smile with the rest of the team. Even Katie was in high spirits now. She touched the ground way before Harry and waited for him.

"You are so lucky!! Who would have guessed that your stupidity would EVER pay back?"

"Gee thanks, Katie..." Harry said, still shaking a little from his adventure in the air. Katie shook her head and walked into the changing rooms still smiling. The rest of the team soon followed her, that is everyone except Harry and Pet.

"Are you okay, bro?" she asked. "You look a little pale..."

"I'm fine... Why does everyone ask if I'm all right?"

"Harry... if something's bothering you, you know you can tell me and I'd never tell a soul, right? I miss the way we used to be," she said quietly.

"Yeah, thanks," Harry said. He looked around, casting for a subject to switch to. He smiled when he saw a kid with dirty blond hair and blue eyes smile sheepishly at him. "And I think your friend wants to talk to you... alone."

"Oh no..." Pet moaned, her face turning red. "My hair's a mess!" she cried despairingly as she rushed to the changing rooms. Harry laughed and followed her in.

As soon as he stepped into the changing rooms, though, he was pulled aside and pushed onto a bench.

"We are going to sit here until you start telling us what the bloody hell is wrong with you," Ron said. Hermione was standing half of a step behind him.

"Harry, what happened out there?" she asked, concerned.

"It was nothing," Harry said, brushing it off.

"It was not nothing! Did it have anything to do with your nightmare last night?" Ron asked.

Hermione gave a slight gasp. "Nightmare?" she asked. "Harry! What is it now! You're supposed to be past those. The Occlumency was supposed to get rid of them."

"Oh, and he was yelling our names," Ron added while looking at Harry.

"So what? I had a dream. Everyone has dreams at some point!"

"This was more than a dream, and you know it! Why won't you tell us anything?! Is it because you still think that this is all some stupid dream? Is it because you think you're in a coma in the real world? Or maybe, it's because you aren't who you say you are!"

"Ron!" Hermione protested.

"No, Hermione. I have a point, you just don't want to admit it. He's not acting like himself and these days, you have to be careful. Look me straight in the eye and tell me you trust the person in front of us one hundred percent."

Hermione looked at Harry with tears in her eyes and hung her head.

Ron muttered something that sounded like "I thought not" and stormed out of the changing rooms. Harry hung his head, feeling like rubbish, especially so when Hermione rushed out after Ron.