Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series or anything Harry Potter related!

(*) THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN UPDATED on 06/03/11.

Avery POV

It had been a few weeks since Athena's arrival and the battle with the Death Eaters. Everything had gone back to normal. At least for the most part. I don't know what happened after that battle, but Ben had become distant and uncharacteristically sulky. He didn't really talk to me much except for small talk during dinner and during our meetings with Dumbledore. At first I assumed that he was still shaken by the battle, but after a few days I realized that something was actually wrong. I couldn't figure out what had happened. He was still perfectly friendly with Hermione and Ron, but he had become different around me. He had never really liked Harry, so I didn't think too much of his bad attitude towards Harry. In hindsight, I probably should have guessed what was wrong. Maybe then I could have changed things... but unfortunately I didn't understand what the problem was.

On a couple of occasions I tried confronting him about what was wrong, but he just told me I was being ridiculous. I tried ignoring it, but it didn't really work. I mean we were around each other all day, excluding class times. I tried talking to him again, but this time it didn't go too well.

"Ben, tell me what's wrong? Things have just been so tense between us," I pleaded one day when I got a moment alone with him. We were walking to our meeting with Dumbledore.

"Avery, would you quit it? I don't know what you're talking about!" He snapped. That hurt more than I expected. Ben had been nothing but nice to me since we had met. It was foreign to hear that tone in his usually cheerful voice.

"Listen, Ben. If I did something to offend you then tell me! I didn't mean anything, I promise!" I whispered. He sighed exasperatedly.

"Geez, Ava. Quit being so sensitive. I'm not upset. Just back the hell off," he snarled. I felt tears prick my eyes, but I blinked them away and continued walking to Dumbledore's office in silence.

These issues with Ben had caused some issues with our training sessions. Athena and Dumbledore could both tell that we weren't 'gelling' as well as we had been. Athena asked me about it one day when I went to hang out with her in her room.

"Avery, what is going on between you and Ben?" She asked cautiously. She probably was worried that she would seem nosy. I just sighed.

"Honestly, I don't know! He's just become so cold towards me... I honestly don't know what I did," I confessed. She was so easy to talk to that I it so easy to confide in her.

"Have you talked to him about it?" she asked.

"I have! He's just brushed me off every time I've asked. He said that I should 'stop being so sensitive'," I told her. She gazed out of her tiny window thoughtfully.

"Well, he's a boy... There's no way to understand then," she said with a small laugh. I let out a small, sad laugh.

"So, tell me. How's Harry doing?" She asked, with a smirk. I was caught off guard by her question. I hadn't told her anything about my relationship with Harry. She was wayyy too perceptive sometimes. I could feel my cheeks burning.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I replied, though I knew that she didn't buy it. She just continued to stare at me with an expectant look. I sighed.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"The way he looks at you. He cares about you so much," she said matter-of-factly. My blush deepened.

Things with Harry had been going amazingly well. I had such bad luck with boys that I had expected to screw everything up after a couple of days, but I was wrong. Things had been going so perfectly, apart from us having to sneak around a little bit. We still hadn't told anyone about our relationship. Instead, we had been retreating to the Room of Requirements a lot. We usually just took our homework there and studied together... or cuddled... or whatever.

Everyone was so busy worrying about their own school work that I don't think that they noticed at all. Hermione had questioned me a couple of times but I just made up something about having meetings with a Professor, or having to practice quidditch with Harry.

Try-outs had passed a couple of weeks ago. Harry returned as the house seeker obviously. After thinking about it for a while I decided to try out for chaser again. I actually managed to get a position on the team. I was a little bit rusty though since I hadn't played in while, so I wasn't lying all the time when I said Harry was helping me with quidditch.

(*) The biggest surprise of the entire day was Ron though! I didn't even know that he was going to try out! He did an amazing job though! It was between Ron and this foul boy, McLaggen. Don't get me wrong, McLaggen was really good, but he was kind of a jackass. In the end however, Ron managed to block more Quaffles, so he was given the title of keeper.

There were so many evenings, after finishing our homework, that Harry and I would go down to the grounds and practise. Ron came along a couple of times, but it was mostly just Harry and I. Harry would play the part of keeper and I would have to try to score against him. After our quidditch sessions, we would sneak down to the kitchen and get some hot chocolate, and creep up to the Room of Requirements to sit by the fire. It quickly became one of my favourite things about Hogwarts.

"Things are going... amazing," I said. She returned my smile.

"I'm glad. You guys are so good for each other. Even though I don't know you all that well I can tell that you both are meant for each other," Athena said. If possible, my cheeks turned a deeper shade of red.

"Listen, Athena, we haven't told anyone yet. Please don't mention anything to anybody," I pleaded.

"Of course not! You can trust me," she assured me. And I did trust her. In the short time that I had known Athena I had grown so comfortable with her. I felt like I had known her for years. Whenever I had some spare time I came down to her little apartment and just talked. She was so wise, considering she was only a few years older than me and she gave me great advice.

Other than that, everything was just normal School work was piling on. I was starting to feel a little bit overwhelmed with the amount of work. Especially because I was having to balance it with training and quidditch and Harry. Life was stressful... but I was happy.

This morning was just another normal day. I was in a particularly good mood because I didn't have Potions or Defence class today. That Umbridge woman was nightmare. We weren't even allowed to do magic in her class. All we did was read our boring textbook, which I had already completed.

After my classes had ended, Harry and I decided to go to the grounds to practice for a bit before I had to work on a Charms assignment. I also had a training session with Dumbledore today.

Quidditch was nice. I felt pretty relaxed after training. I managed to score fourteen goals against Harry today.

"You cheated!" he whined as we walked back to Gryffindor tower. I just laughed.

"Oh come one! You big baby! I totally beat you! Face it buddy, I won fair and square," I teased. He gave me an exaggerated sad face. "At least you're still cute," I joked. He tried to suppress a smile, but failed. He quickly glanced around the grounds to make sure nobody was watching, before leaning over and planting a delicate kiss on my lips. I returned the kiss for a moment before breaking away.

"Harry! We have to get back upstairs! I have to finish Flitwick's assignment before my meeting tonight!" I jokingly scolded. He just rolled his eyes but followed me as I started walking toward the castle.

The assignment turned out to be a lot easier than I expected so I managed to finish well before the our training session was supposed to start. I decided to relax for a few while before the meeting. I sat in the common room with Ron and Hermione, who were arguing about some house elf enslavement thing that Hermione had recently become concerned with. I didn't join in the argument. I choose to simply watch the comical scene in front of me.

I started to drift off. I was so tired from the long day that I fell asleep on the armchair I was sitting in.

I was standing in a field. My bare feet were squishing in the cold dirt. I allowed my fingers to graze the tops of the long blades of grass. I continued to walk through the field, and I saw that I was approaching a dark forest. I continued to walk toward the forest. The wind began to pick up slightly, rustling the leaves of the trees.

"Ava... Ava... Ava," they were whispering. I wasn't alarmed like I had been in the past. I embraced it, and listened to their words. The wind was blowing even stronger.

"Save us... save us...," they were begging. Dread filled me. I wasn't sure what I needed to save my forest from. The leaves were whispering louder now.

"Save us... SAVE US," they cried. I started to run toward the forest now. Before I could reach a figure descended from the darkness.

Ben stood at the edge of the forest. He had a terrible expression on his face. His hand were alight, which just added to his deranged appearance.

He closed his eyes, and suddenly the trees ignited. The wind was howling now. I screamed in agony, as I saw the trees catch fire, but my voice was lost in the wind. I could feel the fire as if it were my own limbs that were burning. I fell to my knees, and I heard a maniacal laugh...

"AVA! Wake up!" I heard. I jumped awake and groggily looked around the common room. Hermione and Ron were standing over me, with concern evident in their faces. I glanced around the common room. Everyone was staring at me, with expressions that showed concern, fear and even shock.

"What's going on?" I croaked.

"You were just screaming. You were sleeping and then you just started shrieking" said Ron.

Well, that explains it, I thought.

"Oh, crap. Sorry for scaring you guys," I said loudly, so that the entire common room could hear. After another moment, everyone got back to whatever they were doing, and the low rumble of conversation started up again.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Hermione asked. I nodded in assurance. Neither of them looked fully convinced but they decided to drop it. I realized that it must almost be time to leave for my training session with Dumbledore. I decided to freshen up before leaving. I went upstairs to the bathroom. My face looked like it belonged to a stranger. My face was extremely pale, and was covered in a layer of sweat. I felt a little bit shaken too. Unfortunately I remembered the entire dream. I remembered the excruciating pain that I felt when the trees had caught fire.

I couldn't get the menacing look that Ben had given me out of my head. With one flick of his wrist, my entire forest was burning to the ground. I could feel a tear escape my eye and trail slowly down my cheek. Several more followed after that one. I couldn't pinpoint what it was that was bring tears to my eyes, but I allowed myself to cry in the hopes that I would feel a little bit better afterwards. After I had run out of tears, I dried off my face, and looked in the mirror. My face and eyes were puffy and red. I performed a quick spell to fix that. I really didn't want anyone asking me what was wrong or if I was alright. I pulled myself together and plastered a fake smile on my face, before going back to the common room and then continuing to Dumbledore's office.