Disclaimer: Do you really think that I created Harry Potter? J.K. Rowling is the genius who created Harry's world. I am only responsible for Tolblox, J.D. and Crystal. I'm only 15 so I have no money, please don't sue! (And I swear if I have to keep writing this, then I'm going to have to kill something)

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long to be posted. But then again not that many people reviewed so I'm not that sorry. C'mon people, R/R! It's not that hard I swear and I really appreciate it.

Thanks a lot to those of you who actually did review, I'm glad you're liking it.

Mere- No offense, but your reviews are getting weirder. :-)


Chapter 10: Decisions


Harry and J.D. tore out of the room, and ran back to the Gryffindor common room. They needed to talk to Hermione and Ron, but the two were still at the ball. J.D. sat down in one of the squashy purple armchairs and she looked at Harry. Neither of them had spoken since the rock declared itself the Star of Hope. What was bothering J.D. the most was that she knew she had seen the rock somewhere before. Of course! It was the hunk of rock in her vision. That meant that it was very important.

"Harry, I just remembered. The star, it was in my vision!"

"You mean that glowing lump of rock?" Harry said as he tried to remember her vision.

"Yes! Oh my goodness! Harry that star is how you're going to defeat Voldemort!"

"Are you joking with me? The only thing that rock would be good for is if I threw it at Voldemort. Even then it would probably only buy me a few minutes. It's probably just metaphorical or something."

It annoyed J.D. a little that Harry would dismiss something like that without a discussion. The Star of Hope could be very important. J.D. hoped that Hermione would be back soon; she knew that at least Hermione would be excited about their discovery, but judging by the way Ron and Hermione had been dancing together, it would be a long time before either of them returned to the common room.

"Harry aren't you even the least bit curious about the fact that we just discovered a talking rock in my secret room?"

"Of course I am," Harry replied, "and first thing tomorrow morning we're taking it to Professor Dumbledore. You should tell him about the room, too."

"Are you nuts? Why do you want to go running to Dumbledore about this? Do you think that I can't take care of it?"

"J.D. we don't know how the star got into the room in the first place or how the room itself got there. Five years in the wizarding world has finally taught me that we should tell somebody about these kind of things. This could be dangerous, and we have to tell."

"No, Harry. If I tell Dumbledore about the star then I have to tell him about the room and I'm not giving up my room. It's very important to me. This stays between you, me, Ron and Mya. That's it."

Harry looked at her blue-green eyes and saw how determined she was. "Fine, but we have to do some research on this thing, find out what it does and maybe find out how it got into your room."

J.D. relaxed. "That's just what I intended to do. I'm sure Mya can help us, that is when she's not studying for her O.W.L.s."

"Want to play a game of Gobstones?" Harry asked.

"Sure, but then I get to teach you Ding Dong. It's the coolest American game." J.D. tried to push Harry's strange behavior from her mind. Was he feeling okay?

* * *

Harry watched J.D. as she set up her next move. How could he tell her what was wrong? He wasn't the same Harry Potter he usually was. It was a strange reason too. Harry had told Ron he was feeling guilty, and that was true, but he was also having nightmares.

He had nightmares about Voldemort regularly along with pains in his scar. Since Voldemort's resurrection (A/N: I love that word!) the nightmares had occured every night and during the day he had a constant headache. He was feeling miserable and wished with all of his heart that he wasn't the Boy Who Lived.

Harry felt like a hypocrite. He was telling J.D. to talk to Dumbledore when he himself wasn't coming clean. Harry couldn't wait for the Quidditch game tomorrow. There was nothing like flying to take your mind off things.

"J.D., I'm going to bed. It's been a long night."

She smiled. "Alright Harry. Oh, and good luck in Quidditch tomorrow."

"Thanks. Goodnight."

Harry walked upstairs to the fifth year boys dormitory and fell onto his bed. None of the other boys were back yet; they were all at the ball with their dates. Lavender and Seamus went together again and Dean took Parvati. Harry smiled, remembering the Ball last year and how Parvati always led in the dances. He hoped that Neville and Ginny were having a good time and that thought reminded him of another couple.

Harry was thrilled when he found out Ron and Hermione were going together. He kept reliving last year's ball when Ron got very jealous over Viktor Krum and Hermione said, "Next time there's a ball ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!" That sentence went completely over Ron's head, but Harry had understood.

He sometimes wished that he had a girlfriend, but decided that he just hadn't found the right girl yet. When she came along, he'd know. That got him thinking about how his parents decided they were in love. No one had ever told him. He had never been alone face to face with Sirius long enough to ask the question and Harry suspected that talking about his parents caused a lot of pain. The same went for Remus.

Harry shook himself. Where had all of those strange thoughts come from? He buried his face in his pillow and thought, 'Hormones are disgusting."

* * *

The very next morning, J.D. was shaken abruptly awake. As usual she was no ray of sunshine that early in the morning, but she was curious to find out how Hermione's night had been.

"It was wonderful! We danced for so long and then we just took a walk. We talked for what seemed like hours. And about everything imaginable! J.D. it was so perfect."

J.D. was truly happy for her friend, but deep down she was very jealous. J.D. wanted someone to herself the way that Hermione had Ron and even the way Crystal had Malfoy. She liked Harry, but she wasn't sure that he was the one, or that he had any interest in her. She also liked Neville because he was sweet and innocent, but he was just a friend. Oh, well, now was not the time to be thinking about her love life.

"We're going into Hogsmeade tomorrow, want to come?" Hermione asked.

"Maybe. Oh, I needed to tell you what happened to Harry and me last night!"

Hermione smiled. "I noticed you dancing together and then leaving the Great Hall. Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Please, Mya. There is nothing going on between Harry and me. Now listen."

J.D. explained the whole story to Hermione from the strange voice to the rock in the box. When she finished, Hermione let out the breath she had been holding.

"Wow, J.D. this is important! We have to go tell Professor Dumbledore about it."

"Not you too! Harry already suggested that and I told him no. If I tell Dumbledore about the star then I have to tell him about my room and we've already been through that."

"Weeelllll... alright, but the four of us are going to research this star thing until we are sure we know what it is. Are you coming to watch Harry play Quidditch against the Hufflepuffs today?"

"Yeah, oh, and since Harry knows about my room you can tell Ron about it."

They left the room and started down for breakfast, J.D. not even noticing the ritual snubbing by Lavender and Parvati.

* * *

Harry had woken up with butterflies in his stomach, the way he always did before a game. He was excited; it was the first game of the season. The team had practiced hard and Harry really thought they were ready. Angelina had become almost maniacal about their winning today's match, mostly because she felt she had to prove herself.

He hurried down to the Great Hall and sat around for half an hour without eating anything. He tried to ignore the fact that Ron and Hermione were holding hands under the table, he had too many other things on his mind. Down the table the other members of his team were sitting, also without eating. Fred and George Weasley were joking as usual, built up with excitement for their last year. Angelina was tracing her eggs with her fork while Fred, her boyfriend, tried to get her to eat. Their new Keeper sat at the very end of the table, staring at his toast as if he had never seen such a strange sight. Eventually the agonizing breakfast was over and the team made their way to the locker rooms while everybody else made their way to the Quidditch pitch.

Harry didn't really listen to Angelina's pep talk. He was startled when she ended it with, "So let's get out there and win!" and nearly fell off the bench he was sitting on. He rushed outside with his Firebolt and got ready to take off, at the same time trying to listen to Lee Jordan's commentary.

"Mount your brooms please," Madam Hooch said to the two teams.

"Before we begin, I'd just like to say a tribute to Cedric Diggory, seeing as how he was Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain. He was a jolly fellow and a good player. That being said and done, on with the game!"

Harry felt a pang in his chest when he heard Lee's words. Cedric wouldn't have been playing anyway, he told himself, he would have graduated. The thoughts still didn't prevent him from feeling guilty. Those thoughts quickly went away as he rose off the ground. There was nothing Harry loved more than flying.

"Katie Bell of Gryffindor has taken the Quaffle and she streaks up the field, look at her go; she's nothing more than a blur! Atta girl Katie! Neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, look out that's Bludger! Ooh, that must have hurt, it's okay Katie– shake it off!"

"Mr. Jordan!" Professor McGonagall's voice rang out.

"Sorry Professor. Anyway Hufflepuff in possession, now it's time to see what Gryffindor's new Keeper is made of. Will he be as good as previous team captain Oliver Wood? I do believe he's saved it! Excellent move by newcomer Steve Montalvo and it's Gryffindor back in possession. Team captain Angelina Johnson with the Quaffle now, passes to Spinnet, and back to Johnson, come on Angelina! YES! She scores! Ten-zero Gryffindor!"

Harry didn't have much to do except dodge the occasional Bludger sent his way. The Hufflepuff team was sadly disorganized. It seemed as though the new captain did not know how to lead and their new Seeker seemed to barely be able to ride her broom. She was young, a second or third year and Harry believed he would have no problem getting to the Snitch before her. The only problem was that he wasn't sure if he wanted to win. Harry was worried that the Hufflepuffs might resent him for it especially after last year.

"It's Hufflepuff in possession and chaser Donaldson is headed full speed toward the Gryffindor goal posts. Can Keeper Montalvo save it? Yes! Another spectacular save! Go Gryffindor!"

"Jordan, if you don't start commentating in an unbiased way then I'm going to have to replace you!"

"Relax Professor. Gryffindor takes the Quaffle and that's Alicia Spinnet racing up the field. Alicia is an excellent Chaser and quite speedy too. Come on Alicia, score! And Hufflepuff Keeper Nortep dives, he misses! Gryffindor scores, twenty to zero!"

From down in the bleachers J.D. suddenly saw the Golden Snitch. She had been watching the game with intense concentration, and had to grudgingly admit that the new Keeper was good. She had been watching him when she saw the flutter of gold. A moment later Harry had spotted it as well as was barreling down towards it. J.D. watched as he neared it, far ahead of the Hufflepuff Seeker and noticed the indecisive look on his face. What was he waiting for? Another few seconds and the Snitch disappeared. Harry had to swerve to avoid crashing into the other Seeker and two Bludgers aimed at him.

Lee's jaw had dropped. He wasn't the only one. Not one member of the crowd could believe what they had just seen, had Harry really let the Snitch go on purpose? However the game was continuing and the Hufflepuffs managed one lucky shot during the chaos.

"Okay, Gryffindor Seeker narrowly misses the Snitch and Hufflepuff scores making the score twenty-ten Gryffindor. I think the question on everybody's mind is, what just happened, Harry? Anyway, it's Gryffindor with the Quaffle, Katie Bell takes it up towards the Hufflepuff goal."

Katie missed her shot though, and the Gryffindor fans groaned. Luckily, Angelina retrieved the Quaffle and scored, making the score thirty-zero. Harry decided to try and catch the Snitch. Having the Hufflepuffs angry with him was better than having his own house be upset with him. Then he saw it and it was much closer to him than to the Hufflepuff Seeker. He reached out and easily grabbed the fluttering, struggling Snitch. The game was over and they had won.

* * *

A couple of months passed since that Quidditch game. Angelina had given Harry a long lecture about catching the Snitch and only stopped when her voice ran out. Harry had spent the last month researching the Star of Hope with J.D., Ron, and Hermione when they weren't studying for their O.W.L.s. So far they had found very little. A mention here or there in some old history book, but mostly it was referred to as a legend.

The four of them had agreed to meet in the library again to look in the restricted section. They had a hard time getting a note for permission to look there, but Hermione, with J.D.'s help, managed to convince Professor Zebré that they wanted to research some dangerous curses. For purely hypothetical purposes, of course. She had been only too glad to help.

Harry sat down in the library and pulled out his battered copy of Quidditch Through the Ages and began to read it for the umpteenth time until Ron, Hermione and J.D. came in. J.D. looked as if someone had thrown a tornado at her head. Her brown curls were disheveled and she was bright red.

"J.D., what happened?"

"I got into another fight with Malfoy. Snape gave me two detentions. I think it was worth it, though; I gave him a bloody nose and a black eye, that annoying little rodent."

Harry shook his head. "I told you it's no use fighting with him. He's not worth the effort."

J.D. shrugged. "Forget it. Now let's explore the Restricted Section, shall we?"

They took the note to Madam Pince, the librarian, who scrutinized it so thoroughly that Harry was worried she would find something wrong with it. Eventually she let them move into the Restricted Section and they got to work. Harry pulled out a small heavy book and began flipping the pages, stopping every time he saw the word star. Usually it just had to do with constellations.

As they were going through the books, without success, Malfoy walked into the library. He called J.D. over, he said he had an important message. J.D. was pleased to see that he was still a complete mess.

"Look Miller, I didn't want to deliver this message, but I agreed as a favor to your sister. She said for you to meet her you-know-where after dinner. And she told me to apologize." With that he left.

J.D. was dumbfounded. What was Crystal up to?

* * *

After dinner J.D. rushed over to her secret room. This was very important, Crystal hadn't spoken to her in a month. They had avoided each other and pretended that they didn't know one another.

Reaching her room, J.D. checked to make sure no one else was around before opening the panel. She walked inside and relaxed instantly. Looking through the mirror, J.D. saw that Crystal was sitting on an elegant, tall-backed chair, nervously moving her hands.

"Crystal? What is this about?"

"J.D.! Good, you came. I wanted to tell you something very important."

"What was with making Malfoy apologize to me? I hit him!"

"Lay off of Draco. He's not as bad as you think he is."

"He's trouble Crystal and he's going to drag you down!"

"That's not important right now. I need to tell you-"

Just as Crystal was about to reveal something very important, J.D. collapsed in her room. She fell heavily, and started shaking. Crystal cried out in surprise. She knew all of the signs; J.D. was having a vision.

J.D. woke up about a half an hour later. She looked up and saw the face of her sister looking down at her with concern.

"Crystal?" She murmured, "What are you doing here?"

"You had a vision. What was it about?"

"You. You were dead and I was at your funeral. But that can't be true, can it? We weren't even adults, I was still a girl. How did you get in here anyway?"

Crystal could tell that J.D. was still disoriented. "I came in through the mirror. I did a flip and landed on the other side."

"I didn't know you knew gymnastics."

"There's a lot about me you don't know." Crystal said this so softly that J.D. didn't hear her.

"But the funeral, that can't be true, can it Crystal? Crystal?"

"I have to go." Crystal left the room, leaving behind a very confused J.D.

* * *

In an old deserted cabin, in a secluded wood, two men met to discuss business.

"You are sure you will have no trouble getting to the Potter boy? I have heard he is well protected."

"It will not be a problem. He can be quite foolhardy. I simply will have to get him alone."

"Good. The Master will reward you, if you succeed."

"Do we know why he wants the boy? Potter is a danger to the plan."

"The Dark Lord will reveal his plan when the time is right."

"That is correct." The voice that sounded now was unlike the other two.

"Master!" said the first man with suprise.

"Make sure that Krum does not fail, Montalvo, or I will find both of you and do away with you."

"We will not fail you Master," said the second man, visibly trembling from head to toe.

"See that you don't." With that the Dark Lord disapparated.