Chapter 21

It was the middle of the night. Sakura and Shikamaru were dreaming about various things. Shikamaru was remembering his sensei and everything they did together. Every once in a while, Temari would enter his dreams. Sakura was dreaming about a father she never had the liberty to know. She was imagining what it would have been like to have him around.

Naruto, on the other hand, was staring out the window, watching the snow fall. He was not looking forward to the rest of this year, knowing that a war was going on in his village. It only made him wish he had left when he had the opportunity.

He looked over to the calender Sakura bought for them. Today was the last day of classes before Christmas break. He wasn't sure what Christmas was or what they would do during this 'Christmas break'. Naruto looked down to the wand in his hands. It seemed to have changed slightly. It had an orange hue to it along with the beginnings of an engraving. He couldn't tell what the engraving was yet, but it intrigued him.

Another hour went by. Naruto still didn't feel like sleeping. After a few more hours, when the sun was starting to rise, he decided to go back to sleep. Or at least pretend to.

An hour went by before Sakura arose. She had a very good nights sleep. When she looked over to see if Shikamaru was up yet, she saw that Naruto's hangings were drawn. He was always way too lazy to do that. She crept out of bed and to Naruto's bed. She peered around the bed and saw that he drew them the whole way around the bed. She was incredibly curious as to why he would do that, but she decided to just ignore it and get ready.

Shikamaru woke up a few minutes later and he dragged himself out of bed. He got completely ready before turning to wake Naruto up. He was greeted with bright red cloth. He turned to Sakura. "Since when does he do that?"

She shrugged and left their room. Shikamaru turned back to the hanging and opened it up. He saw Naruto's mop of bright blonde hair cascading all around his pillow. His blankets were not as messed up as normal, which gave Shikamaru the impression that he only just went to bed. He sighed and quietly said, "Naruto."

Naruto stirred and opened his eyes to see Shikamaru. "Was I that obvious?" Shikamaru nodded.

Naruto groaned and got out of bed. "Why did I stay up so late?" Shikamaru said nothing, since it sounded like Naruto was asking himself. Naruto threw his robes on and grabbed his wand. He then grabbed his bag of books for the morning. As they walked downstairs, a question struck Naruto.

"Hey, Shikamaru, I was wondering if your wand had changed at all." Shikamaru rose an eyebrow, but looked at his wand anyway. It was the exact same way it was when Dumbledore gave it to him. Shikamaru really hadn't had time to get a wand for himself. "No, why?"

"No reason." Shikamaru suspected that his had changed, but he said nothing. By the time they got down to the Great Hall, it was jam packed. It was also nearly silent. All Shikamaru and Naruto had to do was look up to the front. It seemed that Umbridge had decided she should be th only one to be at the front of the Great Hall. All the teachers were now located at the back near the doors. The students were looking only at their food.

Shikamaru and Naruto went to the closest free spot at the Gryffindor table. It was all the way at the front. They noisily walked down to the end and sat. Umbridge was staring at them the whole way down. She continued to stare at them even after they sat. After another moment, she finally did her signature, "Hem-hem."

Everyone looked up at her. She directed her gaze to Shikamaru and Naruto. "Since you two feel it is inadequate to come to breakfast on time, you will both be receiving a detention. Mr. Nara, I do believe this will be yet another detention on your very large list of detentions. It will be tonight at 7:30."

It took every once of willpower Naruto had to not pounce on her right then and there and slash her throat. Shikamaru plainly ignored it and just kept eating. Naruto soon joined, but was slamming his fork into the food. Thankfully, this torturous silence did not last much longer. They were dismissed for their first class.

They met up with Sakura and the golden trio on their way to Transfiguration. They were all very edgy about Umbridge's latest decree. Why was she making everyone be prim and proper all of the sudden?

When they arrived at the Transfiguration classroom, everyone was talking about it. No one understood why she was doing this. Even when Professor McGonagall came in, the talking did not cease. Everyone began to bombard her with questions.

"Are the teachers fighting this?"

"Do you like her rules Professor McGonagall?"

"Why is she doing this to us?"

Professor McGonagall silenced everyone using a very stern voice. "We will NOT be talking about this in this classroom! We will only be talking about your lesson today!"

The rest of the class went like every other lesson. Pretty much all of the classes were like that. They went normally. Then, Defense against the Dark Arts came. Umbridge made sure this lesson was an unforgettable one.

Number one on the agenda of what to do: listen to all of Umbridge's decrees. Every. Single. One. She wanted to drill them into their heads. After wasting most of class on that, she reads a new decree that, "came from the man who will better all of your lives."

Everyone was very annoyed about this new decree. All meals will be held in silence due to the lack of cooperation in finding Albus Dumbledore. All students must go to the meals at a certain time and shall be no earlier or later or they will receive a detention.

Hermione and Sakura had to hold Harry, Ron, and Naruto back from jumping at her. Shikamaru once again just zoned out and ignored everything that was said while still taking in the most valuble information.

Class thankfully ended and they were dismissed for the day. They had to be at dinner by five-thirty. They had one hour to relax and talk. Everyone used that time to the best of their ability.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione were over in a corner talking about Dumbledore's Army. They still had not told everyone where they would be meeting. Now that Umbridge was doing this, they needed to start it up even faster.

"Ginny and I have been telling a few people. We told nearly all the Gryffindors that are interested, but we only got a few Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. We were planning on telling them at breakfast this morning, but that obviously didn't work." Hermione sighed and looked over to the shinobi. They were just sitting there, reading random books. It didn't look like they were taking in any of the information.

"We'll just have to tell them before and after classes. I think we all have classes with at least one or two of them." Ron and Hermione nodded. "Then it's settled. We are telling everyone on the list somehow."

When they broke their little corner huddle, Hermione went over to the shinobi. "How are you guys?"

They jumped at the noise before Sakura answered. "We're doing alright." Hermione didn't buy it. Then, Naruto asked a question. "Hey, Hermione, has your wand changed at all since you got it?"

Hermione looked at him strangely. "I'm not sure." She pulled her wand out of her bag and looked at it. Her eyes widened slightly. "Yes, it has! There never used to be decorative vines on it! At least, I don't think there has been."

Sakura then pulled out her wand. She spun it around on her fingertips. Nothing had changed on hers. "Has yours changed, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded slowly. He pulled it out and showed Sakura, Hermione, and Shikamaru what had changed. Sakura then asked a question. "Why did his change and mine stay the same?"

Hermione thought for a moment. "I never knew they changed in the first place. I need to go to the library. I'll see you at dinner." She dashed out of the common room before they said a word.

"Let me see your wand again, Naruto." He handed it to Sakura. She looked at it closely. Near the tip of the wand, there was something there. What is it...

"Naruto, I think you have the beginnings of an inscription on your wand." His eyebrows furrowed and he took the wand back. "It's up near the tip of the wand."

He directed his eyes to the tip. He inspected the tip of his wand. Indeed, there was a letter at the end. "It's a D." Sakura sat and pondered the possible words it could make. Defend. Deep. Doubt. Destroy. Detail. Deserve. Detrimental. Derive. Decide. Drive. Dare. Dread. Demolish. Demand. Dead.

She prayed that it was not the last word. There were probably a hundred other words that began with D as well. She decided it was for the best if she didn't add to the list anymore.

"I wonder what it means... there's another letter!" They all leaned forward as a letter inscribed itself onto the wood. This time, it was a E. Dread filled Sakura up suddenly. Dead was still a possibility.

"Naruto, put it away." Naruto looked up at her like she was insane. "Why? More letters might appear!"

"It's highly doubtful that any more will appear. You did see how slowly that letter appeared, right?" He pouted, but did as he was told. He put it into his bag and zipped it up. Sakura grabbed his bag and left for their room. "Why is she so against finding out what it is?"

"Probably because of the possible words it could be. Especially one word in particular." Shikamaru closed his book and leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. Naruto gave him a strange look for a second before realization set on his face. "You mean the word dead?"

Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah, most likely that's why she is acting the way she is." Naruto laughed.

"That's so stupid! Even if it will say that, there's no way I'm dieing!" Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "She will always worry about something like this. Women worry more than they need to. They also blow things out of proportion all the time. The only advice I can give you is get used to it."

Naruto shook his head. He then looked at his watch. "We've got twenty minutes before we have to be in the Great Hall. I wonder if she'll let us wander around in that time..."

"I doubt it. She's freaking out about people being late to meals, so I think she'd hate us wandering around aimlessly. Then again, it wasn't in any of her decrees." Naruto and Shikamaru looked at each other. "Let's go!"

Naruto jumped up and ran out the Fat Lady's portrait before Shikamaru even stood up. "I meant that we'd go together." Shikamaru sighed and took off after his friend.

Sakura came back down the stairs and looked for Naruto and Shikamaru. What she had done was a little rude, so she was going to apologize for it. Too bad they had just left.

"They left probably ten seconds ago. I think they were going to wander around in the time we had left before dinner." Sakura rolled her eyes. "I expected that out of Naruto, but not Shikamaru. I think they've been hanging out too much."

She left to go make sure they didn't do something too stupid. Then again, Naruto had matured remarkably since they same here. She smiled as she left the common room.

Voldemort was pacing. Whenever he began pacing, it never meant something good. Wormtail was watching him, a terrified look on his face. Voldemort then looked over to Michio, who was twirling a piece of straw in his hands. He looked over to Voldemort when he sensed him looking at him. "What?"

Voldemort narrowed his eyes. "I have a task for you to do."

"Not interested." Michio went back to his twirling. Voldemort's face erupted in fury. "YOU WILL DO THIS TASK! I AM THE GREAT LORD VOLDEMORT AND I COMMAND YOU TO DO THIS TASK!"

Michio gave him yet another bemused look. "Like I said before, I could care less that you're 'The Great Lord Voldemort' or whatever it is you dub yourself as. I'm only in this world to dispose of the ninja protecting Harry. Plus, Zetsu got me on good terms with his leader, so I'll probably end up joining Akatsuki when I get out of here. For now, I need to train."

With that, he stood and went towards the door. Voldemort suddenly put a shield in front of the door. Michio grabbed his sword and attacked the shield. It didn't penetrate the shield like he had hoped it would. "Damnit."

Michio whirled around and glared at snake man. "Let me out." Voldemort smirked. "Not until you say you'll do the task I'm giving you."

"Fine, I'll do it. Now let me out." Voldemort threw a piece of parchment at him. "Open it. It has all the details of the task."

Michio opened it and saw the first word before he felt something tug at him. The next thing he knew, he was spiraling out of control. He felt nauseous for a second before he landed roughly in his new destination. "I'm going to murder him when I get back."

He unwillingly read the rest of the task. Michio looked around at his surroundings, found a corner, and sat down. It was going to be a long wait.

His body felt smooth, powerful, and flexible. He was gliding between shining metal bars, across dark, cold stone...He was flat against the floor, sliding along on his belly... It was dark, yet he could see objects around him shimmering in strange, vibrant colors...He was turning his head...At first glance, the corridor was empty...but no... a man was sitting on the floor ahead, his chin drooping onto his chest, his outline gleaming in the dark...

Harry put out his tongue...He tasted the man's scent on the air...He was alive but drowsing... sitting in front of a door at the end of a corridor...

Harry longed to bit the man... but he must master the impulse...He had more important work to do...

But the man was stirring...a silvery cloak fell from his legs as he jumped to his feet; and Harry saw his vibrant, blurred outline towering above him, saw a wand withdrawn from a belt...He had no choice...He reared high from the floor and struck once, twice, three times, plunging his fangs deeply into the man's flesh , feelinf his ribs splinter beneath his jaws, feeling the warm gush of blood...

The man was yelling in pain...the he fell silent...He slumped backward against the wall...Blood was splattering onto the floor...

Another figure appeared behind the man that had fallen unconscious...Harry knew this man and let him foreward...The new man pulled out a sword...He lifted it high into the air...He swung down hard...

Harry's forehead was searing with pain as he came out of sleep.

"Harry? HARRY?" Harry opened his eyes only to shut them in pain. He clenched his sweaty hand onto his forehead, as if hoping it will help ease the pain. Before he knew what was happening, he vomited over the edge of the bed. He then sat up and jumped out of bed.

"Where's Naruto and Shikamaru?" Harry felt extremely light-headed and nearly fell over. Ron caught him. "Harry, you're ill, you need to sit! Someone go get help!"

"I need those two! I don't need anybody else! Ron, you need to get them if you want to keep your dad!" Ron froze. "W-what?"

"GO FIND NARUTO AND SHIKAMARU!" Someone ran out of the common room. Harry leaned back against his bed, shaking and clammy. Ron was staring at him, completely frozen. Naruto and Shikamaru then burst through the door. "What's going on Harry?"

"You need to go find Ron's dad! He's badly hurt! There was... a snake I think. Then there was a person with a sword that resembled Michio's sword..."

They left before he finished. They were sprinting faster than they had ever gone in their lives. Shikamaru skidded to a halt in front of the Room of Requirement. "Naruto! I'm pretty sure he's in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic! There's no way we'll get there in time! One of the portraits in Dumbledore's office has another picture in there! They can get help! The password's Fizzing Whizbee! GO!" Naruto nodded and started towards Dumbledore's office. When he got there, he shouted the password and ran to the top. He then realized it was moving and nearly fell off.

By the time it finally got to the top, he slammed the door open and yelled, "Which portrait goes to the Ministry of Magic?" The portraits all grumpily woke up. Naruto was annoyed that they were taking two seconds too long. "Do any of you have a portrait in the Ministry of Magic? Someone's injured near the Department of Mysteries! His name's Arthur Weasley! Please help!"

A sallow-faced wizard with short, black bangs answered. "I have a portrait in the Ministry of Magic." Naruto was sick of waiting. "THEN GO YELL FOR HELP IN YOUR OTHER PORTRAIT!" The portrait glared at him for a moment before disappearing.

Naruto looked around the office. It was the same as the last time he saw it. Nothing had changed in Dumbledore's absence. Naruto started pacing. What was taking that stupid portrait so long?

He then thought back to right before they went to Harry's room. Naruto had been awake for a while. He felt dark power beneath him. It was gripping and choking power. It felt all to similar to something he felt on a daily basis. Then it disappeared. Naruto heard some yelling and he decided to wake Shikamaru. Sakura was still not too happy with them for ditching her earlier.

Shikamaru was already awake. He heard the yelling, but hadn't felt the dark power. They went out of the room. They were walking down the stairs when they heard Harry yell. They ran down to their room. They saw Neville running down the stairs. He was most likely getting a teacher, which was probably for the best.

"I yelled for help and said I heard something downstairs. They reluctantly went downstairs and came back up carrying him. It'll be a miracle if he survives. They said he wasn't breathing, which is probably normal for having yourself nearly sliced in half. They are bringing him to St. Mungo's." The man sat in his chair and wiped sweat off of his face. He looked green.

Naruto was staring at the ground. Was he too late? Was Michio really there? Did he do that to Mr. Weasley? The door suddenly opened behind him. Professor McGonagall was standing there with Harry, the Weasleys, and Shikamaru. Professor McGonagall just had to look up at the portraits to know what happened.

"Phineas!" Another portrait was stirring in his sleep. This was presumably Phineas. "PHINEAS!" He jerked awake. "Huh? What happened?"

Professor McGonagall glared at him. "Go to your other portrait and tell Sirius Arthur's been hurt and his children, Harry Potter, and two of the foreign exchange students will be coming by portkey for the night."

He glared back before leaving his portrait. After a few moments, he appeared again. "He said he'll be happy to have them stay."

Professor McGonagall nodded and took out a shoe. She muttered a few words before it started glowing. "Hold onto the shoe while I count to three." Everyone grabbed the shoe.

"One, two, three!" They all felt something pull at them and the started spinning uncontrollably. They landed on hard wood and all stood up. Sirius came into the room just as Kreacher did. "Filthy children. Is it true there father's dead?"

"OUT!" Kreacher fled the scene. Sirius took one look at everyone before saying, "I'll go get some butterbeer! Why don't the two foreign exchange students come and help me?" Shikamaru and Naruto looked at each other before following.

The went into the kitchen and were stopped by Sirius. "I know exactly why you two are here and I know that there's a third member of you ninja. Dumbledore told me everything."

Naruto and Shikamaru nodded. Sirius then smiled. "Well, we should get the butterbeer. They definitely need it. Oh, one more thing. You," He pointed to Naruto, "Are Naruto, right?" He nodded.

"Then that means you're Sasuke?" The Shinobi looked away at that. Shikamaru shook his head. "No, he's dead. I'm Shikamaru."

Sirius looked at them, worry filling his face. "I'm sorry for your loss." They just nodded. Sirius took out his wand and flicked it, saying, "Accio Butterbeer!" A plate of delicious looking drinks came to his wand. "Let's go."

Harry proceeded to tell his story. He made it sound like we was watching from the sidelines and not actually the snake itself. After that, everyone was silent. For the next few hours, everyone merely sat there in silence. A few of them began to drift off. After what seemed like an eternity, the sun began to rise. Sirius jerked awake and looked outside to see the sun rising.

Harry stood and went over to him. He got up and gestured for Harry to follow him to the kitchen. "Shouldn't Mrs. Weasley have come by now?"

Sirius nodded. "It does seem very strange that she hasn't at least updated us. She was notified, correct?" Harry nodded. Professor McGonagall had told them on the way to Dumbledore's office that she would notify her.

There was a knock on the door. Harry went over and opened the door. A man stood there in robes. He had parchment that was folded with him. "This is from Molly Weasley to Harry Potter." The man looked at him for a second before handing him the parchment. "Thanks."

Harry closed the door and walked back into the living room. Everyone was staring at him. Harry swallowed and shook his head. "I can't read this. One of you should read it." He pushed it down the table. They all stared at it for a moment before Fred grabbed it. He opened it, hands shaking. Fred and George started reading it. It had only been a few moments before Fred dropped it. They were both staring in shock. Ron's face lost all of it's color.

Harry left the room. Naruto and Shikamaru saw this. Sirius was trying to comfort them as they all burst out crying. Naruto told Shikamaru he'd handle it. Shikamaru nodded and Naruto followed Harry up the stairs. Harry went into Buckbeak's room. Naruto followed him and looked at the monstrosity in front of him. "Naruto, I don't want anyone to be here. Please leave."

"Not until you tell me what that is. It's really awesome." Buckbeak looked at Naruto and bowed. "You have to bow back." Naruto did as he was told. Buckbeak almost seemed to smile at Naruto as he walked up to him and petted him.

"It's a Hippogriff named Buckbeak. Now leave." Naruto continued to pet him. "No."

"Naruto, I just killed someone! I don't want anyone else to get hurt! Now go!" Harry proceeded to push Naruto out of the room. Naruto stopped Harry from slamming the door shut.

"Harry, you did not just kill someone. Voldemort did. And Michio probably helped him. It was not your fault! You would know if you had truly killed him." Naruto's voice faded away. Harry just shook his head. "I did kill him. I feel so incredibly guilty."

Naruto let go of Harry. "Fine. Believe what you want." Naruto left Harry standing there. Harry just stood there for a very long time before his emotions finally go the best of him. His tears would not cease no matter how hard he tried. He eventually went back into Buckbeak's room and shut the door, locking it with his wand.

The days leading up to Christmas were not as festive as they should have been. The only three that weren't constantly crying were Sirius, Naruto, and Shikamaru. Harry had kept himself locked up in Buckbeak's room. Sirius and Shikamaru were bringing him meals. They tried talking to him, but Harry would just slam the door in their faces.

Molly ended up coming on Christmas eve. She thanked Sirius for letting her children stay at his house. She did not look like she had been eating or sleeping. She also looked like she had just filled up three oceans full of tears. All the Weasleys had a family meeting in the dining room about the funeral. None of them seemed to want to. Ginny ended up storming out when Molly suggested cremation.

In the end, they decided to bury him at the burrow. They debated where for a little while before deciding next to his garage full of muggle items was the best place. They dispersed after that, Molly going upstairs to be with Ginny. None of them even bothered with Harry.

Later on Christmas eve, Hermione showed up. She stayed with Ron for most of the night. He was silent the whole time. She didn't bother to start a conversation.

After dinner, she volunteered to bring Harry supper. Naruto and Shikamaru followed her, since they were curious if he'd talk to her.

Hermione knocked on the door. "Harry? It's Hermione. I brought your supper."

The sound of footsteps began from behind the door. The door opened a fraction. "Thanks." Hermione jerked her hand with the food back. "You won't get this until you come downstairs. You will start talking to us."

"No," was the plain and short answer he gave. Hermione shrugged. "Fine, I guess you'll just starve."

She started to leave and go back downstairs when Harry burst out of the room. "Wait! I'll go downstairs!"

Hermione took in his appearance. He was filthy and looked like he hadn't taken proper care of himself in a while. His clothes hung on him because they were so filled with dirt.

"You need t get cleaned up! You're a complete mess!" Hermione rushed forward and grabbed his wrist. She dragged him to the room him and Ron were sharing. She opened the door, threw him on his bed, and started looking through his trunk. No one had noticed Ron was in the room.

Ron stared at them. He had no expression what-so-ever. Hermione found some clothes and threw them at Harry. "Now, go take a shower and get changed! And if you do something like this again, I will not help you!"

Harry nodded vigorously. He was about to leave when he saw Ron. He froze in his tracks. Hermione was about to yell at him to get going when she saw Ron was with them. She lost her voice. She wasn't sure if Ron blamed Harry for his father's death or not.

"You should go get cleaned up." That was all Ron said. Harry nodded slowly before leaving. Hermione looked at Ron. "Do you blame him?"

Ron looked up at her. "I don't know. I don't know what to think of him at the moment."

"Don't blame him. He doesn't deserve it. He already blames himself for it. It wasn't his fault. He had no control over it." Ron said nothing at her words. She sighed and left him sitting there. He proceeded to lay back on his bed. He decided he needed some time to think.

Hermione stormed into the kitchen. Molly was slowly washing the dishes with flicks of her wand. Hermione collected her thoughts quickly and asked, "Why haven't you tried to talk to Harry? Why haven't any of you tried to talk to Harry?"

Her wand ceased it's flicking. Molly turned around and looked at Hermione. Hermione looked right back. "I haven't been able to stop crying long enough to talk."

"You're not crying right now, are you? When he gets done with his shower, you will gather all of your children and you will talk to him." Molly looked away and began the dish-washing again.

Hermione sighed and left to go find Sirius. He was in the tapestry room. "Sirius, can I talk to you?"

He looked over to her. "Of course, Hermione. What is it?" Hermione took a deep breath.

"I need you to help me gather everyone into the living room, minus Harry. I can get him myself. I want them to get all their differences out of the way. I'm not sure if Mrs. Weasley will listen to me, so that's why I need your help. Don't tell them that it's for that reason, though. Just say it's last minute Christmas plans that everyone needs to be apart of." Sirius's eyebrows continuously rose until the end of her idea came.

"Alright, if you really want to, I can do that." "We'll help." Hermione turned to see Naruto and Shikamaru. She smiled. "Thank you."

Harry finished his shower and felt one hundred times cleaner. He put on the clothes Hermione had gotten for him. He grabbed his other clothes and realized just how filthy they were. He promised himself to never do that again. He went up to his room and peered inside. Ron was no where to be seen.

Once Harry decided it was safe, he entered and put his clothes in a hamper. He looked at himself in a mirror. He looked much healthier. Then, he remembered that he had to go downstairs in order to get food. Most of his food had been given to Buckbeak. He hadn't realized just how hungry that hippogriff could be.

Harry turned around and walked out to the landing. He looked down the stairs to see Hermione looking at him. He took a deep breath and went downstairs. Hermione gave him a reassuring look and led him to the living room. The second he saw all of the Weasleys, his breath hitched. He forced himself to keep walking. Hermione gestured to the chair in front of Sirius, Naruto, and Shikamaru. They were facing the Weasleys. Harry swallowed uncomfortably.

"This isn't exactly a meeting to discuss Christmas plans. It's more to see who is still with Harry after certain events took place. I just want to say this right now." Hermione cleared her throat. "It makes sense if you do blame Harry for Mr. Weasley's death. I would have a small part of me blame him if my father was in this position. The thing is, I wouldn't blame him so much that I would stop talking to him. I wouldn't want to stay out of his life. I'd rather keep my relationship with him as long as possible. It wasn't his fault, no matter how you look at it."

She bit her lip and then sat next to Harry. There was silence for a moment. Then, Fred spoke up. "What makes you think we do blame him? I don't blame him. I just want to destroy You-Know-Who that much more." George nodded at his twins words. "That's how I feel too."

Ginny was the next to speak. "I don't think I'd ever be able to blame Harry. That was the last thing on my mind ever since it happened." Hermione let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Ron looked at Harry and nodded. That was all Harry needed to know he was still on his side. The only one left was Molly. Everyone looked at her.

She stood up and walked over to Harry, who felt his chest tighten suddenly. She leaned over and wrapped him up in a big hug. He sat in shock for a moment before returning the hug. Harry felt her shaking and knew she was crying. "I-I'm so s-sorry, Harry. I s-should have t-tried to t-talk to you more. I n-never blamed you!"

Harry felt himself slowly breaking down with tears. They weer like that until their tears had dried up. When they parted and looked around, they saw everyone was smiling.

That night, everyone talked and talked deep into the night. They were finally sent to bed at a very late hour. Ron and Harry went upstairs together in silence. They went into their room and got into their pajamas. They laid down and turned of the lights. There was silence for a moment before Ron said, "Don't fall asleep. I don't want anyone else to die."

Oooo, Ron still holds a grudge! I had to, okay? If I didn't, it would have been way too predictable. Alright, first, the reason I haven't updated in over a month is because my computer got this keylogger on it so I had to disconnect the internet. Then, I had to wait for Christmas to come so my brother could come and see if he could get rid of it. He couldn't, so we ended up nuking the computer. (which is our way of saying wiping it out) When we started updating it and everything, it froze during one of the updates and then it wouldn't load properly, so we had to nuke it again. Finally, we got all the updates on and I started writing. It's an extra long chapter, so be happy.

The part where Harry has the dream is a direct quote from the book until the little part with Michio I added in. I thought that part was amazing, so I had to put it in. Well, anyway, hope you enjoyed it! Review! Oh, and Happy 2011 everyone!