Disclaimer: Sometimes I wish JKR was my mom so I could make some kind of profit, but she's not and Im poor so don't worry.







Notes: This chapter was the absolute death of me. I had started typing it the other night and out of nowhere my comp just shuts down on me. Then it never retrieved it so I had to start all over. ARRRRGGGGHHHH do you understand how frustrating that is. Anyway thanx for all the reviews. Please continue to r/r for me!! Anyway without further delay Chapter 9 is on the way....



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Chapter 9- The Color Black is Never Good





The secrets live inside me, I can't take them anymore, and when I scream them from my heart, please don't shut the door. The truth can be unnerving, it brings sorrow, pain and grief but when I hold you close to me it will surely bring relief. -Unknown



The November sky was clear and inviting, and as Harry looked out the window from his dorm he couldn't believe that October had past by so quickly. Sometimes he wondered if time was actually accurate. He leaned back in the over sized armchair and pulled a piece of parchment from his bag. He had been meaning to write Sirius a letter, but he had lost track of time completely. He was wanted to ask him why left so suddenly when he came to visit last month, it was very surprising. His quill had barely touched the parchment when a faint cry sounded behind him. Harry looked over his shoulder and much to his surprise, Ginny was curled up in the corner, her head buried into her knees. He knew right away why she was crying, the only problem was how to talk to her about his worst enemy.

" Ginny? " her head darted up from her lap and she began wiping the tears from her face. Harry placed his letter aside, deciding that she needed someone to talk to, and made his way to the corner of the room. " What's wrong?"

" Nothing Harry, Im fine...." her voice was distant and she didn't make eye contact with him.

He placed his arm around her and she gently eased her head into the space between his head and shoulder. If this had been two years ago, Ginny knew she would have been on cloud nine. But this had nothing to do with Harry, everything that filled her with emotion was now the work of Draco. From the moment their affair had started he knew exactly how to make her heart burst with joy, but he also knew exactly how to break it. Today he had done both. When he tried to apologize to her this morning her heart filled with happiness and she told herself to forgive and forget but her temper told her to stake him through the heart. She began saying things she didn't mean, and before she finished yelling he told her it was over and then left her standing in the cold. Why had she been so incredibly stupid?

" Ginny, you may not think I understand what your going through but I do...." She lifted her head from his shoulders.

" You know nothing about what I feel." she hissed at him. She shook her head, she didn't mean to be spiteful, but her emotions were in such a tangle.

Harry brought his hands to his face and brushed his messy black hair out of the way. " I know exactly how you feel Ginny, " he began, but before she could answer him back he continued. " Its like your heart and your head completely separate, and you cant think straight because your heart has begun to do all the thinking. You cant imagine living your life without that other person and although you try to forget about them, you don't have the strength to let it happen..."

She gave Harry a bewildered look ' Maybe I should tell him, it might just ease the pain. '

"...and you know that once that relationship is formed, the consequences you will have to face would only bring them pain. So you try to stop it, you tell them terrible things, hateful things, and all the while it breaks your heart to say it, and after its over you regret it and your heart shatters like glass. You feel like your suffocating, like something is inside of you waiting to be free, and when you realize it is your heart, its too late. The words have been said and the ties have been broken and your left standing alone...." he kept his face straight ahead, knowing if he looked at Ginny he would surely cry. He knew that he was thinking of Hermione all the while, but hopefully somewhere in his long babbling speech he hoped she grasped the point he was trying to make.

" I understand what your saying Harry, really I do, but none of it concerns me. "

" I know about Malfoy " his voice was calm but Ginny felt her entire world collapse around her.

" But how? Harry? "

" He slipped when he was talking to me " he turned to her his eyes sincere., " I promise I wont tell Ron. "

" Oh Thank you Harry," she lunged at him and brought her arms around his neck.

" But you will be telling him. He has to know. "

" There is nothing left to tell...we are through, remember?" her eyes darted around the room making sure no one was in sight.

" Ginny if you don't tell him, he will eventually find out, and the outcome will be far worse than you think it will be....you will tell him. "

" All right" she stood from the floor and made her way to the girls dormitory. Just as she reached the staircase she stopped. There was a low whisper and Harry was positive she had just said ' Thank you' before jogging up the staircase.

Harry stayed slouched against the wall, thinking about the speech he had just given Ginny. He wished that he could take his advice and go back to the moment Hermione had said she loved him.

" I wish you knew Hermione...I wish it never happened...." he banged his head on the wall behind him.

" I know enough Harry..." he looked up and Hermione was standing over him. She bent down and touched the back of his head.

" Now stop, your likely to knock yourself out if you continue." she smiled at him

" What are you doing?" he immediately regretted the tone of his voice and hoped it wouldn't upset her.

" Pretending that it never happened....I heard everything you said. "

He straightened up against the wall and brought his head away from her touch. " Hermione...I cant....There is no way.....there are so many things going on now, I don't want you to get hurt. I need time. " he looked at her, waiting for her reaction.

" I understand." he looked at her funny, " honestly Harry I do, but I cant wait for you forever. For now Im here and I hope that whatever is bothering you is solved so we can share some happiness. " she rose from her feet and headed towards the portrait of the fat lady.

" Hermione?"

She turned, " Yes?"

" You know, everything that I said to Ginny just now, everything was about you. "

" I know...." she turned and left him sitting there in the corner, defeated and alone.



************







Dear Krista,

Oh my wonderful daughter. How are you? Your father and I miss you terribly. How is everything at magic school? We received your letter about a week ago and were thrilled to see you are excelling. We were both glad to see that you have made some new friends. ( Although your father is not fond of the idea that your dating one of the wizard folk) I think its marvelous. Well we understand that you would like to spend the holidays with your friends so we have decided to let you stay. We will be sending all of your presents and such to the Wasley house. That is how you spell it, correct? He sounds very foreign. Im sure you will have a wonderful time, please write us again soon.

Much Love,

Mom & Dad



Ron finished reading the letter and gave Krista a peculiar look.

" Wasley? Foreign? Sometimes I think muggles are a bit off their blocks. " he shook his head.

" Excuse me? " she grabbed the paper out of his hands and crossed her arms.

" I mean...er....a fine specimen of a creature those muggles are. " he began flexing his arms and together they began laughing.

" Yes, well at least I'll be able to spend the holiday with you are your house, with your mother and father and all of your siblings and all of...." a glazed look formed in her eye and before she began babbling on about his family he ran over and kissed her.

" What was that for?"

" To shut you up of course. " he smiled

" Oh....Hey!" she threw the letter at him and fell onto her bed laughing. She picked up her Divination book and began flipping through the pages to her homework. She was glad that Seamus had chosen her as his partner for the term project, because he always wanted to finish things early, as a matter of fact they were all ready done with the moon charts of destiny. With a little help of her creative mind they were able to think up some real whoppers. Trelawney would be absolutely thrilled. She looked up at Ron who was reading a Young Witch magazine of Parvati's and she rolled her eyes. She flipped through some more pages when something at the bottom of the page caught her attention. There was a small heart with the initials GW scribbled inside. She thought hard and then remembered that Seamus had borrowed her notes a few weeks ago.

" Hey Ron," he looked up from the magazine, " look at this." she tossed the notebook over to him and he flipped to the page she had been reading.

" So whats the big deal? A heart with initials...my sisters initials...and this is your notebook? You fancy my sister? " he stuck out his tongue and laughed.

" No you idiot, Seamus borrowed my book a few weeks ago. He must have done it." She pulled a cherry sucker from her pocket and stuck it in her mouth, " You know, the more I think about it, it does make sense, they have been paling around lately." she moved her eyebrows up and down, " Perhaps there having a secret love affair " she laughed.

" Of course they arent Ginny would tell me. " but by his facial expressions Krista could tell that he was pondering the truth., " Do you suppose she would keep a secret from me?"

" Well that depends, " she pulled the sucker out of her mouth, " what would you do if you found out that Ginny and Seamus were having secret snogging sessions in the empty charms classroom?"

" I would kill him"

" Then yes, if I were Ginny I would definitely keep a secret from you. " she rolled on her bed in laughter but Ron was getting angry.

" I need to talk to her now..." he said as Krista rose from the bed and sat in his lap. She kissed him softly and played with his hair. " Well I could always talk to her later I suppose....."



*********





When he had first seen the house in shambles all those years ago he had felt his heartbeat stop. Now all these years later, as he stood at the edge of the grassy lot he still had the same feeling. The land that once was home to the house of Lily and James Potter was now a vacant grassy field. He figured that while he was in Azkaban the town had cleaned up the area. He tore his eyes away.

' This is where the pathway would have been. ' he looked down at his feet and slowly took a step forward onto the land. There was a large tree in the back corner and there were many surrounding bushes. He remembered telling James once that those bushes were an eyesore. Something wet splashed his hand and when he reached up to his face. He realized he was crying.

' My best friend...'

He walked across the ground with easy steps. He didn't want to disturb any essence of his friends. He walked slowly, looking at he ground as though he could see through it. A peculiar scent hit his nose and he dropped to his knees. His hand reached out to the earth and grasped a handful of soil.

' Yes this is the spot....' he pulled a small shovel from his bag and stuck it hard into the ground. He wanted to do this quickly, for being back pained his heart to much. Finally he hit something and he threw the shovel aside. Reaching down into the dirt he felt the small box that Lily had hid all those years ago. He pulled it out, surprised to see that it was still in good condition, and opened the lid. The crystal was still in there but for some strange reason it was glowing black. He quickly placed the cover back and shoved it into his pocket. The color black was never good.





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Hermione took her seat next to Krista and filled her in on all of the recent Harry information. Krista smiled and nodded eagerly to hear more and this only made Hermione more excited to tell her. She had always loved talking to Ginny about these things, but it was difficult knowing that Ginny had a crush on Harry. Krista made life that much simpler.

" So he said all that to Ginny? Oh Wow....Hermione hes regretting everything now...give him a week" Krista dropped her voice to a whisper as Ron and Harry entered the potions classroom. They had all been up late studying, because according to Snape, his quiz was hard enough to make Morgana shudder.

Krista elbowed Hermione and they both giggled at the sight. Ron looked as though he had been in a fight with an angry troll and Harry looked exactly like the troll. A few people began to laugh and before they knew it the entire class was in hysterics.

Harry looked around and rolled his eyes at each of them, " You all are a bunch of immature.." Harry was cut short by the slamming of the door.

Professor McGonagall entered the classroom, her face stiff and serious. There was a bit of muffled laughter from the Slytherins, but it stopped once she gave them a severe look of disapproval.

" Do you suppose Snape is sick? " Seamus whispered in Harry's ear

" I doubt it.." but something inside of Harry wasn't quite sure what was going on

" Class," the ears of every student glued quickly to every word that came from Professor McGonagalls mouth, " I am sorry to inform you that Professor Snape will not be here to teach today. " There were many smiles from the Gryffindor students but McGonagall continued, " Due to certain circumstances we are not entirely sure when we can expect him to return, therefore he will be replaced with a new potions teacher. "

" Who?" Hermione spat out loud

" Me....." all eyes turned to the back of the classroom and in the doorway stood Professor Lupin.

" Professor Lupin? " Harry spat out rather loudly

" Well yes Harry it is good to see you too" he sauntered up to the front of the classroom and dropped his books onto the desk." I will be taking over for Professor Snape until further notice, so for the time being, anything that he was working on we will not be doing. " there were a few cheers from the back of the room and Lupin smiled. He looked over to Harry and then over to Ron and Hermione. His eyes darted to Krista and for a moment his and when he looked at her face had gone completely blank. His mouth opened a bit and he blinked his eyes hard.

" Professor are you all right?"

" Uh yes Ron, thank you for your concern. " but his eyes remained glued to Krista's face and if they didn't know any better it looked as though he had seen a ghost.





**********





The dining hall was full of noise and clatter and when Ginny sat down at the table she was sure she sat with her back facing Draco. She had lived through the day without thinking much about him, and she wasn't going to begin now. She reached for a handful of chips and shoved some in her mouth.

" Ginny we need to talk. " Ron was looking at her through bites of his ham.

" Sure Ron about what?" she placed a few more chips into her mouth and then with some realization she choked.

" You know..." he moved his eyebrows up and down hoping that she would get the hint.

" Oh umm.well.um I don't understand Ron. " she fidgeted in her seat and could feel herself begin to sweat.

' I cant believe Harry told him' she thought

" Ginny you don't have to pretend with me. I know all about it. "

" You do? "

" Yes, Krista and I figured it out..." he took a few more bites of his food and then rubbed his stomach.

" So Harry didn't tell you..." she looked over at Harry who had sunk into his seat.

" No...Why did Harry know? "

" Well yes...he found out a long time ago" she looked nervously at Harry who was bashing his head down on the table.

" Harry you knew and you didn't tell me?" Ron shot around to Harry who was now hitting his head even harder.

" Ron don't yell at Harry!"

" Quiet Ginny this is now between Harry and me."

" Ron my seeing Draco Malfoy has nothing to do with Harry!!" Ginny was standing at the table shouting loud enough for her family at the Burrow to hear her. The entire hall silenced immediately and Ginny could feel her face turn a dark shade of red.

" What? " Ron said through gritted teeth.

" Well-er-um...you see" the tears began to fall from her face.

" Virginia Weasley please inform me that I just heard you wrong" Ron's fists were clenched

" Ron, sweetheart calm down, Im sure there is a reason for all of this confusion. " Krista had stood and was rubbing his back in small circular.

" Don't..." he pulled Krista's arm away, " I don't believe it, Ginny tell me your lying!"

" Lying? " Malfoy was now standing at the Slytherin table, " Let me give you a little piece of information Weasel, your sister never lied to me, but she did do a lot of other things " He grinned his usual evil grin and sat back down.

Ron pushed Krista out of the way and headed towards Malfoy his fists in tight balls.

" Ron don't " Hermione had jumped in front of him and for a second or two she held him off. It didn't matter though because before he could get any further Lupin had placed himself in front of Ron and using very little force carried him out of the hall.

" Im going with him..." Krista grabbed her bag from the table and bolted out of the great hall.

Ginny was still crying at the table, her body convulsing heavily. Harry put his arm around her and Hermione helped her rise from the table. They shuffled together out of the room but before they were out of sight, Ginny gave one last look at Draco. His face was still in his evil grin but as Ginny looked into the eyes she could tell that he hurt just as much as she did.



*************



Ron lay on his stomach, his face buried deep into his pillow. Krista sat on his bed her hands slowly massaging his shoulders. How could his sister possibly do this to him? She knew how much the Malfoys and Weasleys disagreed.

" I don't understand how she could do this. " his sentence was muffled in the pillow but Krista was able to decode the message.

" Im sure there is some sort of explanation....I mean Ginny is not a stupid girl. " He turned to his side and looked into her face.

" Krista shes with Draco Malfoy....there is no reason, because it shouldn't be happening!" he shouted at her and than sat up on the bed. She had lowered her head to him and he at once felt terrible for yelling at her, after all she was only trying to help him. " Krista Im sorry. I shouldn't be taking any of this out on you. "

" I understand why your upset, but if Ginny is honestly happy why cant you just let it go. "

" Because I know shes not happy, he must have her under some kind of spell " he punched his bed with all of his might and huffed loudly.

" Come here, " he moved over to where she had been sitting and laid his head in her lap. " Im sure everything can be solved tomorrow, why don't you close your eyes and get some sleep. " she brushed her hands through his soft hair.

" I don't know how I'll get any sleep at all tonight. " he closed his eyes and thought about evrything that had just been exposed to him. He was glad that Lupin had stopped him from doing anything stupid. He was also glad Fred and George had left earlier that morning. They had finally received enough credit to pass. If they had been there today, Ron was sure Malfoy would have been dead. He sighed deeply, feeling a bit of comfort with Krista beside him.

' Tomorrow I will solve everything." He drifted off to sleep.







*************



Krista closed the door quietly as she left the boys dormitory. Everyone was still down at dinner but instead of going back down she decided to catch up on some much needed sleep. The walkway was dark and quiet and it gave her the chills. She kept her eyes and ears alert, afraid that something might jump out at her. She had a definite feeling that someone else was there.

" Hello? " her eyes darted to each dark corner and when there was no answer she continued to her room cautiously. That's when she saw the shadow moved in the corner. It was a slight movement but she knew that someone was there. She didn't waste anytime before taking off at full speed down the rest of the walkway. She heard the movement behind her and she hurried her steps. She could hear it getting closer and before she had time to do anything else it had pounced on her. She struggled against the weight of his body, kicking and yelling for someone to help her, but the next thing she knew his arm swung down heavily against her face.

She opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. Her head felt like it had blown up to the size of a watermelon. She wondered just how long she had been laying there. The are was still quiet so it couldn't have been very long, or else someone would have seen her lying there. She slowly brought herself up and rubbed her head.

' What in the world was that all about ' she stood up and staggered a bit, still feeling dizzy from the blow she had taken to the head. She grabbed onto the wall and with all of her strength managed to get herself into her room. She dropped down onto her bed and took a deep breath. Her heart was racing and her legs were shaky. Again she touched her head, trying to figure what had brought on the attack. She brought her hand down to her chest and gasped. She felt around her neck and for the first time in all her years it was naked. Her necklace was gone. She was sure that when she had fallen it would have stayed on. She was used to falling a lot back home during soccer games, and the clasp never once broke on her.

' It was stolen ' she sprung up from her bed and opened the door. Outside it was still dark and quiet but the presence she had felt before was gone. Her heart began to beat faster and she slammed the door in frustration. Without that orb around her neck she felt completely lost. It was the only thing that brought her comfort and now it had been taken from her. She curled up onto her bed and closed her eyes, hoping that when she awoke in the morning everything that happened that day was all a terrible nightmare.







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" I have it here master " he held out the necklace and it glimmered brightly. He took a step closer and handed it to the dark figure.

" You have been most helpful. " he took the necklace and held up to his eye. " The time will be here soon, her eighteenth birthday approaches. I can feel it " he placed the necklace into his pocket.

" But master what if they find out, cant they stop it?" he twiddled his fingers anxiously for the answer.

" Ahh that's the beauty of this whole circumstance, now that we have it, " he patted his pocket, " we will prevail and the reign of darkness shall rule again. " he cackled

" But what about Harry Potter? He always finds a way, and now that she is friends with him surely..."

" Silence! There is nothing he can do, for he doesn't even know who she really is..."



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ALL RIGHT CHAPTER 9!!!!!!!!!!



SNEAK PEAK OF CHAPTER 10:



Harry spun him around, his anger was rumbling inside of his head and he wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to handle it.

" Tell me! "

" If you could only imagine what I have endured my whole life, you would understand how hard this is. " he looked around avoiding Harrys eyes.

" The why are you doing this? What does it matter to you ?"

" Im sick of living the life my father had made for me. I do not want to be like him. I control myself. " his voice was stern and powerful but he was obviously hiding something.

" Then tell me what I have to do. "

" There is absolutely nothing you can do...I have seen the prophecy..."

" And what does it say?"

" Its her destiny Potter...her destiny is to die. "







ALSO IN CHAPTER 10: Lupin and Sirius chat, Ginny confronts Malfoy, Krista looks for her orb, a birthday, a holiday party and some disturbing news.....

HOORAY FOR CHAPTER 10!!!!!!!!



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