Hey all! Here's the next chapter. I had a few issues with it, but I'm about to leave for vacation and I'm not sure when I'll have internet access again. So it was this or wait a month. Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: Not JK. But I wanna be.

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Chapter 21:

Dumbledore's office was poorly lit as Harry and I sat down. I felt Fred's hands on my shoulders, but he was looking around as Dumbledore got confirmation of the worst; there had been an attack, just like Harry had dreamed.

"Where were you, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, blue eyes staring at Harry's.

Harry shook his head and swallowed. "I dunno." But his face was full of guilt.

"Were you watching the snake from above? The side?" Harry shrugged. "Or was it a blur?"

"It was er, a blur," Harry took Dumbledore's excuse, but I could tell my grandfather had an idea of where Harry had been in the dream. Or who.

Snape stood in the corner and watched silently, while McGonagall went to fetch Ginny.

"Who was with him?" I asked.

McGonagall and Ginny came in. Ginny's face was pale.

Dumbledore turned his gaze to me, and my bottom lip shook. "I don't think now is the best time to discuss this."

"It wasn't mum," Fred said, and his grip tightened on my shoulders.

"Your mother is at Grimwauld place, waiting for word of your father." Dumbledore turned back to me. "Now what did your dream entail?"

Even Harry turned to me and the room went sickly silent.

I looked down at my lap to see my hands shaking. I clasped them together, then took a deep breath.

"I saw him. Voldemort."

"What was he doing?" Snape asked, taking a step towards me.

"He—he was killing people." I looked through Snape then, as my dream replayed in my head. The sun was shining outside, but people were screaming. Death Eaters flooded every street as people dropped dead. Men, women, and children.

All dead.

"Torturing them, slowly, like he was enjoying it. Then right at the end—"

I stopped then, and my lip shook again. Red eyes filled my vision and I flinched.

"What?" I didn't know who asked it, but I didn't care.

I closed my eyes. "He looked at me. He looked at me and grinned. Like he knew I was watching. Like he wanted me to see."

No one said anything for a long time.

I felt the weight of my dream and wondered if Voldemort had really seen me. What town had he leveled, and why?

"Maybe it was just a dream." Snape seemed sure of his words.

"It wasn't a dream," I snapped. "It was real." Even as I spoke, I started to doubt myself.

"Despite the potion you've been taking?"

I stood up. "I've been taking your stupid potion just like you told me too. It's not my fault if it's not working right."

Snape's eyes narrowed, but at that moment someone cleared their throat.

"They've been found," the portrait said, sounding out of breath.

"Thank you," Dumbledore said. He handed the Weasleys and Harry some floo powder. For a moment I thought I might not be able to go with them, but then he turned to me. Fred hesitated, but stepped into the green flames and disappeared.

"We'll discuss this later. For now, get some rest, and help comfort them as much you can. Arthur is not out of the woods yet. It will be a long night for you all."

I nodded and glanced at Snape and McGonagall before throwing the powder into the fire.

Sirius was waiting for me outside of the hearth, and he showed me to the kitchen where the others sat . Harry looked around every so often, but none of the Weasleys bothered to glance at him. They all stared off into nothing.

"How about some butterbeer?" Sirius asked.

When no one answered, he waved his wand and a few butterbeers zoomed from the shelf and onto the table. Ron immediately took one, gulping it down within seconds. Eventually people drank, and for a few blissful moments, the room was filled with the pops of bottles opening. Then silence.

For a while I sat by Fred. I didn't try to comfort him; I knew there was nothing I could say to make him feel better. So I leaned my head on his shoulder and rubbed slow circles on his back, hoping that he'd understand how sorry I was.

"Did you know this was going to happen?" Harry said. It broke the silence in the worst way imaginable.

I froze as Fred tensed beside me. All the Weasleys all looked at me. My eyes widened and Harry blushed, hopefully realizing how stupid his question was. I licked my lips and shook my head too quickly.

"Not exactly," I said, but my voice was weak.

"You knew?" Ginny's face was scrunched up in a frown, and it was all for me.

I shook my head. "No. Yes, but no. I knew that there would be an attack, but—"

"Now would be a bad time to be secretive," Harry said, his voice smoldering.

"In what I saw, your dad was attacked. He was alone. I told Dumbledore, and I said that it would be better for people to partner up in whatever they were doing. I thought that would stop it." My last sentence was at Fred, because he was staring at me like I was a ghost.

"It didn't," Ron said, getting up and leaving.

"She's doing what she can," Sirius said, but his words fell on deaf ears.

"I didn't know what else to do," I said, tearing up.

"You could have told me," Fred said, voice icy.

I took a breath, but it came out as a sob. "Fred, I—"

"I need to be alone," he said, evading me as I reached for his hand. His footsteps were heavy on the stairs, but I didn't follow him.

I stood up and went to the front room, sitting on a couch. I couldn't bear to be around the Weasleys for another minute. Really, I couldn't bear to be around myself, because they were right. I was hiding everything from them. I was trying to fix things, but I only made them worse. My mother, the Diadem, Umbridge, and now this.

If I hadn't gotten involved, Mr. Weasley would definitely have survived. But now? I had no idea. And whoever else was with him was hurt too. No matter what Dumbledore said, and I was sure he'd have some words for my comfort, what happened was my responsibility. So far, I'd failed miserably.

My body was tired. Drained. But every time I closed my eyes, Voldemort's filled my vision. Had it just been a nightmare? Was I losing it completely? Or was it a mixture of vision and nightmare? I didn't want to think that it was a true vision, because if Voldemort had seen me, he knew about my "gift" or whatever it was. What was he up to? And what was he getting at?

"I'm going crazy," I said, drawing my knees to my chest as I leaned my head down and held my hair.

"No more so than the rest of us," Sirius said.

I jumped.

"Sorry if I scared you," he said, grinning as he took a seat in the couch across from me. "Don't beat yourself up over this. It's not your fault."

"In what way could this not be my fault?" My voice was still raspy from crying, and I knew my nose was red.

"You're doing the best you can."

"And still fucking up."

I caught his comforting smile fade a little as I looked into the fire.

"I tried fixing things on my own," I heard myself say. "That failed. Then I tried to tell people, to prevent it that way. Then I tried just letting things go, but just by being here I mess things up. I can't watch it all happen."

"You can't watch us lose?" Sirius was looking at me with glassy eyes, and I knew he was baiting me. I couldn't blame him.

"I really don't know anymore."

"Sorry," he muttered. Then he shrugged. "You're doing better than a lot of people would in your place. It can't be easy, seeing the future. Makes it difficult to live in the present."

I stood up. "Damn near impossible. But thanks for the heartfelt speech."

"Wait." I paused, and he gestured for me to sit down. "I can't tell you what to do, because no matter what, you have to live with what happens. But make sure that your actions aren't as a result of what someone tells you." He smiled lightly. "Your grandfather, he means well, and he is a very powerful wizard, but he's not perfect. A little batty, if you ask me."

I smiled despite myself, and Sirius chuckled.

"And don't even get me started on Snivellus."

My smile faded. "He's trying."

"I'm sure," Sirius said, more to himself then me. "My point, is that you should follow your instincts. Don't play by anyone else's rules, because that's what everyone is expecting." He stood up and headed back to the kitchen. "Just something to think about."

I watched him walk away and frowned. Sirius would, in all likelihood, die of his own recklessness, but he made a strange amount of sense. A few hours later, we found out that Arthur, at least, was stable. Or, as stable as one could be after a nearly fatal snake attack.

The blue potion sat on my nightstand, glowing ominously as Ginny snored a few feet away from me. I took the allotted amount and opened my mouth. Then I closed it. My tasteboods thoroughly loathed the nightly potion, but what did my instincts say? Should I listen to my uncle's warnings and stay out of the action? Should I keep blinding myself and act on half truths?

No fucking way.

I poured the dose down the drain in the bathroom, hoping it wouldn't erode the piping, and fell asleep as the sun rose with trepidation. Maybe I'd made a terrible decision. Or a great one.

The next morning, my head felt clearer, like a sunny day after the fog had lifted. When I went down to breakfast, Fred wouldn't talk to me. Ron did; It seemed like Harry had talked to him the previous night. Harry was busy trying to be nice to me, but I was in too bad a mood to bother returning the gesture.

Sirius had a copy of the Daily prophet that Tonks had brought earlier that morning. He rifled through it as everyone trudged through breakfast, and frowned. "American Wizards Denounce Minister After Tragic Explosion in Muggle Town. Wonder what that means. Definitely not an explosion, fucking terrible liars."

Harry looked up. "When was the attack?"

"Last night," Sirius said, flipping to the next page.

My eyes widened and I snatched the paper, going back to a small picture of the town.

"Do you know the town?" Sirius asked, but everyone else had stopped eating.

"Was it the one from your dream?" Harry asked.

I couldn't answer as I stared at the picture. It was of a street sign, and officials walked around taking photos and notes. Someone's foot lay at the edge of the picture, the rest of the body remained out of focus. It was the town next to mine.

"I—I used to live near there," I managed.

I stood up and left the room before anyone else could speak, and went to my bedroom. No one followed me there, not even Fred. Except for him, I was glad of the solitude.

For a while I paced, shock coursing through my system like lightning. I never saw Voldemort in American cities, except when he'd shown up in mine. I closed my eyes and tried to remember the dream I'd had, but I couldn't concentrate on anything but Voldemort's eyes and the bodies dropping to the pavements. Dull thuds and screams.

"I have to leave," I said to no one, grabbing my cloak. I touched the door handle and backed away. Then I chucked my cloak at the bed. "I can't leave," I grumbled. Just like Snape had said so many months ago, I was just one girl wandering around London. Useless. For now, at least. I sat down on my bed and rubbed my temples, concentrating on the dream until my head hurt.

I didn't leave my room until I heard people clamoring about downstairs. I found Dumbledore outside of the kitchen, next to Sirius, who looked angry. Lupin and Tonks milled around the kitchen, trying to prepare dinner. Ron and Harry played a game of chess.

"Did you know? About that attack?" I stared up at Dumbledore, not with anger, but the knowledge that I was right.

"Katarina, I—"

"It's really an easy question," I said, my hands on my hips. "Just say yes or no. Did you know?"

"We had our suspicions, yes," Dumbledore said.

I kicked the wall and swore. "Why didn't you stop it?"

Harry looked up at us.

Dumbledore stayed calm, patient even. "There were other tasks at hand. We cannot jump at every lead. We cannot save every life in times like these. You know that, Katarina. I'm sorry."

My eyes stung a little as Snape walked through the front door. "But I'm not just letting them die," I said, my voice rising. "I'm causing it."

Snape rolled his eyes. "We've no time to comfort you tonight, I'm afraid, The meeting is about to start."

Dumbledore patted my shoulder once before heading to the room. Snape turned to follow him.

My hands clenched into fists and I stomped my foot. "People are dying because of me and you know it!"

Both my uncle and grandfather turned, but it was Sirius who spoke. "No. People are dying because he wants to get to you."

No one needed him to specify who "he" was.

"Don't let him get to you, Kat," Sirius finished.

"So that's it? We all just shove the blame on Voldemort and be done with it? If I'm all he wants, why not trade my life for however many are dying out there?"

"Please," Snape said, taking two quick steps towards me, "You've clearly been around Potter too much if you think that you could give up your life so heroically. Your survival instinct is just as intact as the rest of ours, so why don't you go upstairs and leave the adults to fix this catastrophe?"

"Cause you're all doing such a bang up job!" I screamed. I realized that more members had shown up, and the Weasleys had made it downstairs by now, but I didn't care. "And you're a coward! Just because you'd do anything and betray anyone to save your own skin doesn't mean the rest of us would!"

Silence. No one moved, not even Ron. Snape stared at me with widened eyes and flared nostrils, but other than that he gave no reaction. Then I looked down and saw his clenched fists, one of which held his wand at the ready. I took a step back.

"Severus," Dumbledore said, and Snape seemed to remember where he was. He put his wand away, a movement so subtle that I suspected only Dumbledore and I noticed. Then his face became blank as it so often was, and he went in the meeting room without a second glance. Dumbledore gave me an ambiguous look, and followed Snape.

"I quite like you," Moody said, heading in after them. "No one puts that bugger in his place, but that was a show."

His words had the opposite effect from what he probably intended, and my stomach turned to lead as I went up to my room.

A few days later, I went to Harry's.

He sat with Ron, Hermione, and the twins.

"We need to talk," I said to Harry.

Fred and George left, glaring at me, but as Ron and Hermione stood up, I shook my head.

"No, you guys can stay."

They sat back down as Harry frowned.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"I can't do this alone. I've tried, but it's not working. So I've been thinking that maybe," I licked my lips, "maybe we should try working together."

"Now she gets it," Ron said, throwing his hands up.

I tried not to narrow my eyes. "I'll make you a deal. I'll keep you in the loop when it comes to my plans, but I can't tell you everything. In exchange, you have to trust me if I say don't pry, duck, run, or shut up."

"Not that last one," Harry said, the barest hint of a smile on his face.

My own lips started to curve upwards. "So are you in? Ron? Hermione?"

The three of them nodded.

"Good," I said, sitting down next to Hermione. "We have a lot of work to do."

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Alright. Working on the next chapter. I hope you liked this one! Comment please! Only takes a minute, I promise!

Thanks, as always, for reading!