Disclaimer: Just like in every other HP fic, most of the characters are property of J. K. Rowling, including - but not limited to - Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, George, Dumbledore, McGonagall, etc. I may have made up a few, but they are in light of Ms. Rowling's books, characters, and writing styles. :)









'Twas a bright and sunny August day and every kid who was any kid was outside playing with all the other kids. Games of tag, hide-and-seek, and tons of different sports were being played everywhere.

Although it seemed like any other day, today was actually a very special day. Maybe it was not special for the kids out playing, but it was special none-the-less. For up high in the sky was something that went unnoticed to the general public. An owl was flying so high, it was easily mistaken for a regular, everyday bird.

But do most regular, everyday birds carry life-changing information? Not usually. Alas, this one did.

The owl flew and flew and flew until it landed on a window-seal. It tapped on the window three times and waited.

The window was opened by a sweet-looking old man, with long silvery-white hair. He untied a piece of parchment tied to the owl's leg with a string and read it carefully. A slight look of astonishment came on his face and a twinkle came in his eye.

**********

"King me!"

"You know, I really should stop letting you win, Ron. I think it's inflating your ego."

"Inflating my ego, Harry? No, no. My ego can't possibly be any more inflated than it already is!"

Two boys who had been sitting at a chess table stood up and started down a crooked staircase outside the room they were playing chess in. The boy who was leading the pair was a nice-looking redheaded boy in his mid-teens. Tall and nicely built - though not incredibly muscular, he was the aforementioned "Ron." The other boy was, obviously, Harry. He had naturally untidy black hair with bright green eyes, and black round-frame glasses. If you by chance got to see past the messy hair, you would see a scar in the shape of a lightening bolt on his forehead, but we'll get into that later.

Just with a quick glance in the kitchen of this house would tell you that Ron was the one who lived here. Six bright red=heads were randomly walking around like mobile fire.

Those six people were Ron's parents, Arthur and Molly, his younger sister, Ginny, older brother Percy, and older twin brothers Fred and George.

Then there was Hermione. She was of average height, had medium-to-light brown hair that was relatively fluffy, and a beautiful complexion. Ron thought she was coming along quite nicely, but he'd never admit it if asked.

Harry and Hermione were visiting Ron and the rest of the Weasley's (for that was their last name) for the remaining few weeks of summer, before the three - along with Ginny, Fred and George - returned to Hogwarts, their school.

The main trio was going to be 5th years at Hogwarts when school came back in session. Ginny would be a 4th year, and the twins would be 7th years, which is the final year of Hogwarts.

Hermione and Ginny were at one end of the table, talking excitedly about school starting with the feasts, and seeing the new 1st years get sorted. On the other side of the table, Fred and George were huddled over what looked like a small wind-up chicken. They'd wind it up, let it walk a few steps, then tap it with their wand. They repeated this cycle until it finally turned into a real chicken.

"Oy! Mum! We did it!" Fred said, standing up with the chicken and walking towards his mother.

"Boys!" Molly was almost screaming. "Now you two know not to abuse magic, especially not while school is out!"

"So it's not quite as bad if school is in?" George piped in.

"George... You knew very well what I meant."

"Alright, alright," George replied slowly. "We'll change it back."

"If we can!" Fred added quickly, taking the chicken - and George - outside, so as to not make a mess.

"Are we going to Diagon Alley today, Mum?" Ron asked as he and Harry sat down where George and Fred were before the chicken incident.

"Yes, we'll leave once I figure out our exact number as far as money goes."

"Shouldn't there be just as much as last month?" Ginny questioned.

"Well, thanks to your father's paycheck, and Percy's raffle-winnings..." at this, Percy revealed a big, wide grin of pride on his face. Molly continued with "We now have... 58 Galleons, and 5 Sickles - ooh, and 7 Knuts!"

"Wow, Mrs. Weasley!" Hermione began, "Maybe you can buy Ron a larger attention span so that he might actually do his homework and I won't have to do it for him." She shot a friendly glare at Ron and he chuckled.

"Then what would you do? All you ever do is work, I'm doing it for your own good!"

"I do not just do homework! I - I -" she thought for a moment, "I do lots of stuff!"

"Of really? Like what?"

"Like... erm..."

"We're waiting!"

"Like reading! Not everything I read is for school," she was very proud of her answer.

"If it's not for school, it's about school, like 'Hogwarts, A History'" he replied mocking Hermione with his scratchy falsetto.

"I read Quidditch Through the Ages! That's not for or about school!"
"Yeah, well -"

"Oh shut it," Harry interrupted, obviously perturbed. "You sound like five year olds!"

"Well she started it," Ron replied, yet again in a high pitched voice, mocking possibly a young girl.

Hermione narrowed her eyes slightly and gave Ron a "you-are-SO-immature" look. Ron laughed and turned to face Harry again.

"Alright kids," Molly said, with blinding motherliness. "I think we should get going before someone" looks in Ron's direction, "makes someone else." looks in Hermione's direction, "bite someone's head off."

With that, she got up and retrieved a flower from the other side of the room.

"Oh no!" Harry moaned, when he noticed the flower. "Not Floo Powder again!"

Harry remembered a time before when he used to Floo Powder to get to Diagon Alley. He accidentally stuttered a bit and ended up in Knockturn Alley, a place a good wizard definately doesn't want to be if he can help it.

"Oh, Harry, it's not that bad! But if you turn up in a small town in Russia, watch out for those Russian owls! They bite!" Molly replied, setting the Floo Flower down. She looked over at her husbsand, Arthur. He was asleep. "Arthur!"

He jumped, "Hm - who? Oh, sorry, Molly. Had kind of a rough night last night."

"Aww... What happened Mister Weasley?" Hermione said with a dense sense of sympathy in her voice.

"Well," he began, while rubbing his head slowly. "I kept having this weird dream. About you, actually, Harry."

"Me?" Harry said with a somewhat schocked look.

"Yes, you. You, Ron, Hermione and Draco - of all people - were walking side-by-side through the Great Hall at Hogwarts. You seemed to not notice each other at all. Suddenly, this girl appears at the end of the Hall."

"A girl?" Ginny asked, a bit of jealousy in her voice just incase it was a girl Harry would think was attractive. "What did she look like?"

"She had dark brown - maybe even black - hair, and very fair skin. She had a cape on, so I couldn't make out a face.

"What was odd, though, was that whenever the four of you saw her, you two Hermione and Ron - stopped walking, whereas Draco picked up speed as if he knew her. Harry, she seemed to be looking at you, trying to get you to come to her. When you get a little closer to her, she reaches out, like she was going to hug you. Right when you almost get there, it ends. I either wake up or the dream starts all over again."

"Wow, Dad. Why do you think me and Hermione stopped?"

"I'm not sure, Ron, but I sensed that you feared her. That you thought she was a Dark Witch or the like."

Harry's eyes widened. He was used to weird dreams, but for some reason, this one intrigued him more than any of the others. Did this dream mirror reality? If so, who was the girl? Was she an older student Harry never noticed? How did Draco know her?

He pondered this as Ginny, then Hermione took the Floo Powder, threw it in the fire, then said "Diagon Alley." Then it was his turn. He concentrated as hard as he could on saying the words right, so Mr. Weasley's dream and the girl disappeared from his mind.