A/N: Hey! I got this idea off the new Cassandra Claire chappie.
One of these things will not appear in this chapter: Emotionally
challenged Draco; Professor Trelawney; Harry in swim trunks; Jonnie on a
surf board; Ron's twisted imagination; or, Millicent Bulstrode. Anyone's
guess! Hope you like!
Oh! I forgot, anything in {} is a dream.
{I was sitting by the Pacific Ocean. The sun was shining down on me and it felt good. I didn't even feel tired. I knew I was dreaming because I couldn't be home, but I loved it anyway. I saw people out on the water, a few surfers, tourists trying to pick shells, people like that. I saw one boy wave at me. If it had been months earlier than what it truly was in real life where I was lying asleep, I would have been happy. Now, I knew that he was evil. I knew what that boy would eventually try to do to my friends and me. I remembered that day, I wondered, had he already become a death eater? Was his master already planning for him to hurt the people I loved? As I was thinking those thoughts, I felt an invisible hand tugging at the necklace I had on. I didn't remember having it on, but I didn't want someone to steal my necklace. I grabbed it. The hand was prying my fingers apart and when I finally had to let go, the whole ocean scene went swirling away to black. I slept dreamlessly for a time.} *~* I was waiting in the common room, waiting for Hermione to come back. I didn't know where she went after I left Dumbledore's office to find Ginny. I knew that she would probably go with Harry to take Kerry to the Hospital Wing, but where was she now? I hadn't found Ginny either and was starting to get worried. I had strict orders from Mum to protect her and I wasn't doing my job at all. As I was thinking about the horrible job I had done at keeping Ginny safe, I heard the portrait opening. I hoped it would be Ginny or Hermione. I wasn't worried about Harry he could take care of himself. I saw a flash of red hair as my sister tried to sneak in thinking that everyone who was there would be in their dorms. She spotted me and jumped a little in surprise. "Hello Gin. And where have you been all this time? Harry and Kerry came back. Kerry is sick in the infirmary and Harry is probably there with her." "Ron! What are you doing up?" "I was waiting for you and Hermione. Where have you been?" I asked calmly, but she was scared of what I would do when I found out where she had been. Her whole appearance was disheveled. I waited for her answer. "I, I, I w-w-was, um, er, um, I was, was, was with, with." she stammered. "Well? You were with? Keep going," I prodded. "Oh, I might as well tell you. If you tell Mum, I'll hurt you." "I'm sure, now, where were you?" "I was with Malfoy." "What?! Why were you with Malfoy? Did he do anything to you? Are you all right? What happened?" "Slow down. I'm fine. I was there completely of my own free will." "Then what were you doing with Malfoy? I've told you as much as everyone else has, he is trouble." "Well, we, er, I, oh, you don't want to know." "I beg your pardon? Why, may I ask, would I not want to know?" "You just don't. I'm warning you, but if you make me tell you, I will. You just really don't want to know." "Tell me anyway." "Fine, you asked for it. He snogged me senseless. That's what we were doing." "Oh, you were right. I didn't want to know that. I have some really bad pictures in my head." "I told you so," she said. She walked up the stairs to her dorm while I tried to erase the images my imagination had come up with. Why did Ginny have to be so madly in love with Draco Malfoy? His family was a sworn enemy of ours. His dad had given her Tom Riddle's diary. He hated me. But, I can't fight with her on this. I know; I've tried. She loves him as much as he loves her, and he does love her, he just doesn't know how much. *~* Hermione and I were just approaching the statue to Dumbledore's office. I was a little nervous about all of this, but if it would find whoever had been using Kerry's magic, I would be happy. The statue moved aside to show the spiral staircase. We got to the top and went in. "Ah, I was expecting you two. You have the necklace?" "Yes professor, here it is," Hermione said. I thought that Madame Pomfrey must have communicated by floo. "Well let me see it," he said taking the necklace, "this is really very simple. I just have to put a simple locator charm on it." He waved his wand and said the incantation. The necklace started to vibrate and pointed out the door. Professor Dumbledore followed the path it was pointing out. "Are you coming?" he said when he was partway out the door. Hermione and I followed without trepidation.
*~* {It was my first day at Hogwart's. I had just been sorted into Gryffindor and was sitting down at the table for breakfast. I didn't have to answer all the questions from my classmates. That was how I knew it was a dream. I saw Harry with his bright green eyes, looking sad and lonely. Because I wasn't answering questions, I went over to him and introduced myself. He replied in monotone. I could tell he wanted to be left alone, but he held my interest. I tried again to talk to him, but he wasn't going to cooperate by talking back. Suddenly I was in blackness again and slowly different images appeared. I was in Gryffindor common room with Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione, who I had just met. I was lying with my head on Ron's chest and Harry was brushing up against me. I remembered that this was the first night Hermione was there. She was telling us about her time in Australia. I couldn't concentrate because I was savoring my small contact with Harry. I knew that I wouldn't want it later, but right then, it felt great. I looked over at him and found him looking at me. I smiled and he smiled back. I knew that I would start blushing if I kept staring into his brilliant green eyes so I turned away. I felt a hand running through my hair and looked back. It was Ron. It reminded me that I was with Ron then. It made me sad at the same time. Again, I found myself in blackness. Again, new images came. I was walking around the lake. I was completely preoccupied and looking at the ground. I felt something slam into me. I found myself on the ground under Malfoy. I remembered this day too. This was the day Harry and I were going to be kidnapped. It was only a couple days ago. Then, unlike in the actual event, Harry came over to us before Malfoy had gotten off of me. He looked upset. I could see why. I pushed Malfoy off and stood up. Malfoy just seemed to disappear. I didn't want to have the conversation that was coming and I didn't want to be stunned. I wanted to wake up from this dream. Instead of that, my dream self, who I seemed to have lost control of, walked up to him and kissed him. Hard. I was surprised that I, er, dream me, would do that. I had been mad at Harry. Then I found that I was jealous. I wanted to be the one kissing him, not the dream-me. It wasn't fair. Then it went to black again, but this time the images didn't reappear.} *~* We were following Professor Dumbledore around the castle. He was following the necklace Harry had taken off of Kerry's neck. We had to take a lot of strange turns to get to where we were trying to go. Dumbledore led us through a portrait and into a part of the castle I had never been in, but thought must be there. Hogwart's, a History, had given the square footage, and I had never been able to see how it worked out. Dumbledore tracked the necklaces path through quite a few different hallways and up a lot of stairs. "Where are we going Professor?" Harry asked. "I don't know. This is the guest quarters, where we're housing Order members who live too far away and don't like to apparate. I don't know why we are going down here." "Is it possible, I mean since, well we have a spy, maybe Voldemort has a spy too. Maybe they knew that Kerry was here to help Harry and they thought she would be less of a threat without her magic." "That is a possibility Miss Granger, but I dearly hope that is not the case." We went up a few more flights of stairs to a tower room. It smelled like sickly sweet perfume. I recognized it from somewhere but I couldn't place it. Dumbledore was shaking his head and had a sad look in his eyes. We came to what seemed like the top of the tower, but when I looked up, I saw a trap door. It reminded me of the divination classroom. We opened the trapdoor and went up the ladder that appeared. Dumbledore had a large frown on his face and did not like having to go wherever this lead at all. I was a little worried and still trying to identify the smell. I couldn't quite remember it. "Professor? Who's flat is this? It smells like." "I know Harry. You will soon see, let us hope that the occupant of this flat has a guest. I should have thought about it more when she asked to move in here." "I don't understand. Where are we going?" I asked while we were climbing yet another ladder. Dumbledore was surprisingly agile for his age. We finally reached the last ladder and went through yet another trap door and I suddenly remembered what the smell was. Sitting there in front of us- *~* I was sitting on my bed thinking. I didn't know what was going on in my life anymore. I didn't seem to have any control over anything anymore. I didn't like that feeling. I had always prided myself on self-control, but now, I couldn't stop the feelings that were attacking me. If they didn't stop soon, my mind, heart, and soul wouldn't be good for anything. They were like a storm ripping through my head and if I didn't do what they said all the time, I got a headache. The only problem with that was they didn't want to make up their minds. If I ever regain control of them, I'll make them into lemmings. They will do whatever I want them to, whenever I tell them to. I will be the one they are following, and I will have control, I thought. *~* "Ahh, Headmaster. To what do I owe this unexpected visit?" "I thought you knew all, Professor, how could the visit be unexpected?" Harry spat at the divination teacher, Professor Trelawney. "You know exactly why we're here. I should have suspected something when you asked to move up to the guest quarters. You don't have to act innocent, just tell me who you were working for Sibyll." "So, you've found my secret. I was wondering how long it would take you to find me. I'm sure it would have taken you longer if Miss Granger hadn't been helping. As for who I am working for: no one. I work for myself and take orders from nobody. I agree with Lord Voldemort on some issues, I do not want him to come back to power." "What issues would those be? And, if you work for yourself, why target Kerry?" I asked. "You aren't as smart as you think mudblood. Have you ever wondered why I always predict Harry's death? Well, probably not since you left my class." "What are you talking about?" Harry asked. He looked really mad. Hermione hadn't seen him this upset since he thought Sirius had killed his parents. It scared her. "Golden boy who never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it. Did you ever think that you might have caused consequences you couldn't see? Do you know what happened after you 'defeated' Lord Voldemort? There was celebrating, but what happened to the death eaters? My whole family was caught by ministry officials; they were sent to Azkaban without a trial, leaving me to be raised by my abusive muggle relatives. I never saw my family again. That is your fault. You ruined their cause, therefore ruining them. I didn't have a choice." "That is not my fault! I couldn't help it. I didn't have a choice either! You think I could have stopped myself from killing Voldemort?!" "I still don't get it," I said, "why would you target Kerry to get to Harry?" "Like I said, you really aren't as smart as you think you are. Kerry was at Hogwarts to give Harry a friend and someone to protect him. If I got rid of Kerry, Harry would be vulnerable before he knew it. Voldemort could do whatever he wanted." "You bitch," Harry said quietly, "Kerry had nothing to do with this. You just hurt her for no good reason. You death eater bitch." "No, that is where you're wrong. I am no death eater. I learned what my parents could not from their mistakes." "You know, Sibyll, I will now have to inform the authorities of your actions," said Dumbledore. He had been sitting in silence for most of the exchange. Trelawney seemed to have forgotten he was there. "Go ahead, I might as well be in Azkaban. I can't even kill a 16-year-old girl, let alone the boy. I don't care what happens." "Liar," Harry said. "Oh really? What am I lying about?" "You care what happens. Have you ever been around the dementors long enough to hear your worst memories screaming at you inside your head? You don't even deserve Azkaban." "I forgot, you are always sticking up for anyone and everyone. Would you say that if you didn't know your girlfriend was going to be okay?" "I like to think I would." "Fine. I have nothing more to say. If you are going to inform the ministry, Albus, then I suggest you do so." "Very well, why don't you two go down to your common room and go to bed," he said to Harry and I, "by the way, happy Christmas." It was Christmas Eve. I didn't even notice. How could we forget Christmas? There had been a lot going on in the past few days, I had completely forgotten the reason I had even come to Hogwarts. *~* "Did you know it was Christmas Eve?" Hermione asked. I hadn't known, but didn't care that much. I was completely disgusted by talking with Trelawney. Why would she do something like that? She was such a coward that she had gone after someone close to me that hadn't done anything just so someone else could get rid of me. Why did I have to be the target of all this? What had I done to deserve it? It wasn't like I had a choice in all the things that happened to me. "Harry?" "What?" "Did you remember Christmas?" "No, actually I didn't. I was just a little too busy trying to escape a crazy death eater and worrying about Kerry, but I'm sure you remembered, you remember everything," I said a little too angrily. "I'm sorry. I was just surprised when I realized. I'm going back to Australia in a few days and I never got to really talk to you." "What do you want to talk about?" I said wearily. I had had just about enough of talking. I was looking forward to sleeping until noon the next day. "Well, I want to apologize first off. I know that what happened last year was awful for you and me. Then, I have news. I don't really know what to say though." "You can tell me anything except that you have fallen in love with Malfoy's Australian cousin. The only thing worse than that would be you falling in love with Malfoy himself." "I'm happy to inform you that the only girl I know of that is seriously in love with Malfoy is Ginny, and she would probably strangle me if I was. You'll hate me though. I was off snogging when you and Kerry were being tortured and kidnapped." "Snogging who?" "Well, Ron." "You and Ron? For real?" "Yes. Anyone could see that you were, are, completely in love with Kerry, even if she was off with Malfoy a large part of the time. She was in denial. Ginny and Malfoy are perfect for each other too, so it just makes sense." "You're right, as usual, and I'm very happy for you. That couldn't have been all you had to tell me, so what else?" "Nothing." "Okay, if you don't want to tell me fine, but if you change your mind." "Thanks, I think I'll be fine. Let's just go to bed." "Yeah," I said as we entered the common room. Ron was sitting there and I knew bed would be a long time off. *~* {I was sitting on the beach again. I knew this was a dream, but it felt so real, the feel of the sand and the sun, the smell of the salt water and suntan lotion. I heard someone come up behind me and saw the shadow the cast over me. I got up to see who it was. A boy with shimmering green eyes stood in front of me. Harry. What was Harry doing on the beach? He was wearing orange swim trunks. His muscled chest was tan and slick with water and sweat. The way he was looking at me made me go weak in the knees. I blushed at my reaction. He came closer to me. Neither of us said anything. He leaned down. I shivered despite the hot sun. His lips touched mine. They were soft and warm. He deepened the kiss and only broke it off when he needed to breathe. He straightened and smiled.} I woke with a start. Light was streaming in from the window to my left. I was lying in an infirmary bed, wearing the flannel school issue pajamas. "Good morning. How do you feel? Happy Christmas, by the way," said Madame Pomfrey while she was checking my pulse and for a fever. She did a couple magical tests as well. "You look like you're feeling better and everything is on its way to being normal. If you'd like you can go back to your common room for the day at least. Hermione brought you some clothes earlier this morning; they're sitting on that chair. Mr. Potter was here already wondering if he could see you. From what I heard you mumbling about in your sleep, I thought it best if he waited until you were awake." "Thank you," I said, blushing intensely. I got dressed and headed toward the common room. It was Christmas already. I was glad I had bought my presents early. I had a few extra gifts that I could give Hermione. I walked through the portrait of the fat lady. I was so happy to see everyone there. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. There was a stack of presents still left. I figured they were the ones I was giving out and maybe some for me. "Kerry!" everyone said at once. They all stood up and Harry walked toward me. I thought for a minute he might kiss me like in my dream. He just put his arm around my waist and steered me towards the pile of presents. I noticed a couple of presents by everyone else. Those were the ones I had given. The rest couldn't be for me, there were too many. I sat down on one of the couches next to Kerry. Hermione was sitting on the arm of Ron's chair. He had an arm on her hip so she wouldn't fall. That struck me as odd for a moment, but I didn't pay much attention. Ginny was sitting on the floor. "Well, aren't you going to open your presents?" Ginny finally asked. "These can't all be for me." "They are, you seem to have a lot of admirers and when everyone found out somehow or another that you were in the hospital wing, the gifts started pouring in." *~* Kerry was back. She seemed to be doing really well. I wanted to do so much more than just guide her to the chair all her presents were piled by. I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to have her with me forever. I didn't want her to leave. Ever. The only problem was that I didn't know what she felt. Despite what everyone was saying, I wasn't sure that she felt the same as I did. It was sweet the way she seemed so surprised at getting Christmas presents. From the looks of one of her packages, she had even gotten a Weasley sweater. I knew what she had received from Ron, because he had been feeling guilty about having to switch her gift for Hermione's. He had bought the original when he was semi-dating Kerry. Now that he wasn't with Kerry, but Hermione, the gifts weren't appropriate. He had already given Hermione the very nice sapphire necklace. It cost him all the money he had after buying the few cheap presents he had for everyone else. I always felt sorry for him, not because he went broke so often, but because he was so embarrassed when he went broke. After going with Ron to buy that necklace, I went back and bought an opal necklace for Kerry. Now he had a few sweets for Kerry and a Honeyduke's gift certificate of two galleons. She finally started to open her gifts. I wanted to see what she thought of my gift. She kept moving it aside to open something else. I was right about the Weasley sweater. Mrs. Weasley had also given her some fudge and meat pies. She enjoyed all of the gifts, but she still hadn't opened mine. I was getting nervous. Mine was the last she opened. She pulled the wrapping paper off and opened the box I had put the jewelry box in. I put my arm around her again, hardly noticing my own actions. When she saw the box, I heard a sharp intake of breath. She opened it and gasped. "Oh Harry!"
{I was sitting by the Pacific Ocean. The sun was shining down on me and it felt good. I didn't even feel tired. I knew I was dreaming because I couldn't be home, but I loved it anyway. I saw people out on the water, a few surfers, tourists trying to pick shells, people like that. I saw one boy wave at me. If it had been months earlier than what it truly was in real life where I was lying asleep, I would have been happy. Now, I knew that he was evil. I knew what that boy would eventually try to do to my friends and me. I remembered that day, I wondered, had he already become a death eater? Was his master already planning for him to hurt the people I loved? As I was thinking those thoughts, I felt an invisible hand tugging at the necklace I had on. I didn't remember having it on, but I didn't want someone to steal my necklace. I grabbed it. The hand was prying my fingers apart and when I finally had to let go, the whole ocean scene went swirling away to black. I slept dreamlessly for a time.} *~* I was waiting in the common room, waiting for Hermione to come back. I didn't know where she went after I left Dumbledore's office to find Ginny. I knew that she would probably go with Harry to take Kerry to the Hospital Wing, but where was she now? I hadn't found Ginny either and was starting to get worried. I had strict orders from Mum to protect her and I wasn't doing my job at all. As I was thinking about the horrible job I had done at keeping Ginny safe, I heard the portrait opening. I hoped it would be Ginny or Hermione. I wasn't worried about Harry he could take care of himself. I saw a flash of red hair as my sister tried to sneak in thinking that everyone who was there would be in their dorms. She spotted me and jumped a little in surprise. "Hello Gin. And where have you been all this time? Harry and Kerry came back. Kerry is sick in the infirmary and Harry is probably there with her." "Ron! What are you doing up?" "I was waiting for you and Hermione. Where have you been?" I asked calmly, but she was scared of what I would do when I found out where she had been. Her whole appearance was disheveled. I waited for her answer. "I, I, I w-w-was, um, er, um, I was, was, was with, with." she stammered. "Well? You were with? Keep going," I prodded. "Oh, I might as well tell you. If you tell Mum, I'll hurt you." "I'm sure, now, where were you?" "I was with Malfoy." "What?! Why were you with Malfoy? Did he do anything to you? Are you all right? What happened?" "Slow down. I'm fine. I was there completely of my own free will." "Then what were you doing with Malfoy? I've told you as much as everyone else has, he is trouble." "Well, we, er, I, oh, you don't want to know." "I beg your pardon? Why, may I ask, would I not want to know?" "You just don't. I'm warning you, but if you make me tell you, I will. You just really don't want to know." "Tell me anyway." "Fine, you asked for it. He snogged me senseless. That's what we were doing." "Oh, you were right. I didn't want to know that. I have some really bad pictures in my head." "I told you so," she said. She walked up the stairs to her dorm while I tried to erase the images my imagination had come up with. Why did Ginny have to be so madly in love with Draco Malfoy? His family was a sworn enemy of ours. His dad had given her Tom Riddle's diary. He hated me. But, I can't fight with her on this. I know; I've tried. She loves him as much as he loves her, and he does love her, he just doesn't know how much. *~* Hermione and I were just approaching the statue to Dumbledore's office. I was a little nervous about all of this, but if it would find whoever had been using Kerry's magic, I would be happy. The statue moved aside to show the spiral staircase. We got to the top and went in. "Ah, I was expecting you two. You have the necklace?" "Yes professor, here it is," Hermione said. I thought that Madame Pomfrey must have communicated by floo. "Well let me see it," he said taking the necklace, "this is really very simple. I just have to put a simple locator charm on it." He waved his wand and said the incantation. The necklace started to vibrate and pointed out the door. Professor Dumbledore followed the path it was pointing out. "Are you coming?" he said when he was partway out the door. Hermione and I followed without trepidation.
*~* {It was my first day at Hogwart's. I had just been sorted into Gryffindor and was sitting down at the table for breakfast. I didn't have to answer all the questions from my classmates. That was how I knew it was a dream. I saw Harry with his bright green eyes, looking sad and lonely. Because I wasn't answering questions, I went over to him and introduced myself. He replied in monotone. I could tell he wanted to be left alone, but he held my interest. I tried again to talk to him, but he wasn't going to cooperate by talking back. Suddenly I was in blackness again and slowly different images appeared. I was in Gryffindor common room with Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione, who I had just met. I was lying with my head on Ron's chest and Harry was brushing up against me. I remembered that this was the first night Hermione was there. She was telling us about her time in Australia. I couldn't concentrate because I was savoring my small contact with Harry. I knew that I wouldn't want it later, but right then, it felt great. I looked over at him and found him looking at me. I smiled and he smiled back. I knew that I would start blushing if I kept staring into his brilliant green eyes so I turned away. I felt a hand running through my hair and looked back. It was Ron. It reminded me that I was with Ron then. It made me sad at the same time. Again, I found myself in blackness. Again, new images came. I was walking around the lake. I was completely preoccupied and looking at the ground. I felt something slam into me. I found myself on the ground under Malfoy. I remembered this day too. This was the day Harry and I were going to be kidnapped. It was only a couple days ago. Then, unlike in the actual event, Harry came over to us before Malfoy had gotten off of me. He looked upset. I could see why. I pushed Malfoy off and stood up. Malfoy just seemed to disappear. I didn't want to have the conversation that was coming and I didn't want to be stunned. I wanted to wake up from this dream. Instead of that, my dream self, who I seemed to have lost control of, walked up to him and kissed him. Hard. I was surprised that I, er, dream me, would do that. I had been mad at Harry. Then I found that I was jealous. I wanted to be the one kissing him, not the dream-me. It wasn't fair. Then it went to black again, but this time the images didn't reappear.} *~* We were following Professor Dumbledore around the castle. He was following the necklace Harry had taken off of Kerry's neck. We had to take a lot of strange turns to get to where we were trying to go. Dumbledore led us through a portrait and into a part of the castle I had never been in, but thought must be there. Hogwart's, a History, had given the square footage, and I had never been able to see how it worked out. Dumbledore tracked the necklaces path through quite a few different hallways and up a lot of stairs. "Where are we going Professor?" Harry asked. "I don't know. This is the guest quarters, where we're housing Order members who live too far away and don't like to apparate. I don't know why we are going down here." "Is it possible, I mean since, well we have a spy, maybe Voldemort has a spy too. Maybe they knew that Kerry was here to help Harry and they thought she would be less of a threat without her magic." "That is a possibility Miss Granger, but I dearly hope that is not the case." We went up a few more flights of stairs to a tower room. It smelled like sickly sweet perfume. I recognized it from somewhere but I couldn't place it. Dumbledore was shaking his head and had a sad look in his eyes. We came to what seemed like the top of the tower, but when I looked up, I saw a trap door. It reminded me of the divination classroom. We opened the trapdoor and went up the ladder that appeared. Dumbledore had a large frown on his face and did not like having to go wherever this lead at all. I was a little worried and still trying to identify the smell. I couldn't quite remember it. "Professor? Who's flat is this? It smells like." "I know Harry. You will soon see, let us hope that the occupant of this flat has a guest. I should have thought about it more when she asked to move in here." "I don't understand. Where are we going?" I asked while we were climbing yet another ladder. Dumbledore was surprisingly agile for his age. We finally reached the last ladder and went through yet another trap door and I suddenly remembered what the smell was. Sitting there in front of us- *~* I was sitting on my bed thinking. I didn't know what was going on in my life anymore. I didn't seem to have any control over anything anymore. I didn't like that feeling. I had always prided myself on self-control, but now, I couldn't stop the feelings that were attacking me. If they didn't stop soon, my mind, heart, and soul wouldn't be good for anything. They were like a storm ripping through my head and if I didn't do what they said all the time, I got a headache. The only problem with that was they didn't want to make up their minds. If I ever regain control of them, I'll make them into lemmings. They will do whatever I want them to, whenever I tell them to. I will be the one they are following, and I will have control, I thought. *~* "Ahh, Headmaster. To what do I owe this unexpected visit?" "I thought you knew all, Professor, how could the visit be unexpected?" Harry spat at the divination teacher, Professor Trelawney. "You know exactly why we're here. I should have suspected something when you asked to move up to the guest quarters. You don't have to act innocent, just tell me who you were working for Sibyll." "So, you've found my secret. I was wondering how long it would take you to find me. I'm sure it would have taken you longer if Miss Granger hadn't been helping. As for who I am working for: no one. I work for myself and take orders from nobody. I agree with Lord Voldemort on some issues, I do not want him to come back to power." "What issues would those be? And, if you work for yourself, why target Kerry?" I asked. "You aren't as smart as you think mudblood. Have you ever wondered why I always predict Harry's death? Well, probably not since you left my class." "What are you talking about?" Harry asked. He looked really mad. Hermione hadn't seen him this upset since he thought Sirius had killed his parents. It scared her. "Golden boy who never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it. Did you ever think that you might have caused consequences you couldn't see? Do you know what happened after you 'defeated' Lord Voldemort? There was celebrating, but what happened to the death eaters? My whole family was caught by ministry officials; they were sent to Azkaban without a trial, leaving me to be raised by my abusive muggle relatives. I never saw my family again. That is your fault. You ruined their cause, therefore ruining them. I didn't have a choice." "That is not my fault! I couldn't help it. I didn't have a choice either! You think I could have stopped myself from killing Voldemort?!" "I still don't get it," I said, "why would you target Kerry to get to Harry?" "Like I said, you really aren't as smart as you think you are. Kerry was at Hogwarts to give Harry a friend and someone to protect him. If I got rid of Kerry, Harry would be vulnerable before he knew it. Voldemort could do whatever he wanted." "You bitch," Harry said quietly, "Kerry had nothing to do with this. You just hurt her for no good reason. You death eater bitch." "No, that is where you're wrong. I am no death eater. I learned what my parents could not from their mistakes." "You know, Sibyll, I will now have to inform the authorities of your actions," said Dumbledore. He had been sitting in silence for most of the exchange. Trelawney seemed to have forgotten he was there. "Go ahead, I might as well be in Azkaban. I can't even kill a 16-year-old girl, let alone the boy. I don't care what happens." "Liar," Harry said. "Oh really? What am I lying about?" "You care what happens. Have you ever been around the dementors long enough to hear your worst memories screaming at you inside your head? You don't even deserve Azkaban." "I forgot, you are always sticking up for anyone and everyone. Would you say that if you didn't know your girlfriend was going to be okay?" "I like to think I would." "Fine. I have nothing more to say. If you are going to inform the ministry, Albus, then I suggest you do so." "Very well, why don't you two go down to your common room and go to bed," he said to Harry and I, "by the way, happy Christmas." It was Christmas Eve. I didn't even notice. How could we forget Christmas? There had been a lot going on in the past few days, I had completely forgotten the reason I had even come to Hogwarts. *~* "Did you know it was Christmas Eve?" Hermione asked. I hadn't known, but didn't care that much. I was completely disgusted by talking with Trelawney. Why would she do something like that? She was such a coward that she had gone after someone close to me that hadn't done anything just so someone else could get rid of me. Why did I have to be the target of all this? What had I done to deserve it? It wasn't like I had a choice in all the things that happened to me. "Harry?" "What?" "Did you remember Christmas?" "No, actually I didn't. I was just a little too busy trying to escape a crazy death eater and worrying about Kerry, but I'm sure you remembered, you remember everything," I said a little too angrily. "I'm sorry. I was just surprised when I realized. I'm going back to Australia in a few days and I never got to really talk to you." "What do you want to talk about?" I said wearily. I had had just about enough of talking. I was looking forward to sleeping until noon the next day. "Well, I want to apologize first off. I know that what happened last year was awful for you and me. Then, I have news. I don't really know what to say though." "You can tell me anything except that you have fallen in love with Malfoy's Australian cousin. The only thing worse than that would be you falling in love with Malfoy himself." "I'm happy to inform you that the only girl I know of that is seriously in love with Malfoy is Ginny, and she would probably strangle me if I was. You'll hate me though. I was off snogging when you and Kerry were being tortured and kidnapped." "Snogging who?" "Well, Ron." "You and Ron? For real?" "Yes. Anyone could see that you were, are, completely in love with Kerry, even if she was off with Malfoy a large part of the time. She was in denial. Ginny and Malfoy are perfect for each other too, so it just makes sense." "You're right, as usual, and I'm very happy for you. That couldn't have been all you had to tell me, so what else?" "Nothing." "Okay, if you don't want to tell me fine, but if you change your mind." "Thanks, I think I'll be fine. Let's just go to bed." "Yeah," I said as we entered the common room. Ron was sitting there and I knew bed would be a long time off. *~* {I was sitting on the beach again. I knew this was a dream, but it felt so real, the feel of the sand and the sun, the smell of the salt water and suntan lotion. I heard someone come up behind me and saw the shadow the cast over me. I got up to see who it was. A boy with shimmering green eyes stood in front of me. Harry. What was Harry doing on the beach? He was wearing orange swim trunks. His muscled chest was tan and slick with water and sweat. The way he was looking at me made me go weak in the knees. I blushed at my reaction. He came closer to me. Neither of us said anything. He leaned down. I shivered despite the hot sun. His lips touched mine. They were soft and warm. He deepened the kiss and only broke it off when he needed to breathe. He straightened and smiled.} I woke with a start. Light was streaming in from the window to my left. I was lying in an infirmary bed, wearing the flannel school issue pajamas. "Good morning. How do you feel? Happy Christmas, by the way," said Madame Pomfrey while she was checking my pulse and for a fever. She did a couple magical tests as well. "You look like you're feeling better and everything is on its way to being normal. If you'd like you can go back to your common room for the day at least. Hermione brought you some clothes earlier this morning; they're sitting on that chair. Mr. Potter was here already wondering if he could see you. From what I heard you mumbling about in your sleep, I thought it best if he waited until you were awake." "Thank you," I said, blushing intensely. I got dressed and headed toward the common room. It was Christmas already. I was glad I had bought my presents early. I had a few extra gifts that I could give Hermione. I walked through the portrait of the fat lady. I was so happy to see everyone there. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. There was a stack of presents still left. I figured they were the ones I was giving out and maybe some for me. "Kerry!" everyone said at once. They all stood up and Harry walked toward me. I thought for a minute he might kiss me like in my dream. He just put his arm around my waist and steered me towards the pile of presents. I noticed a couple of presents by everyone else. Those were the ones I had given. The rest couldn't be for me, there were too many. I sat down on one of the couches next to Kerry. Hermione was sitting on the arm of Ron's chair. He had an arm on her hip so she wouldn't fall. That struck me as odd for a moment, but I didn't pay much attention. Ginny was sitting on the floor. "Well, aren't you going to open your presents?" Ginny finally asked. "These can't all be for me." "They are, you seem to have a lot of admirers and when everyone found out somehow or another that you were in the hospital wing, the gifts started pouring in." *~* Kerry was back. She seemed to be doing really well. I wanted to do so much more than just guide her to the chair all her presents were piled by. I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to have her with me forever. I didn't want her to leave. Ever. The only problem was that I didn't know what she felt. Despite what everyone was saying, I wasn't sure that she felt the same as I did. It was sweet the way she seemed so surprised at getting Christmas presents. From the looks of one of her packages, she had even gotten a Weasley sweater. I knew what she had received from Ron, because he had been feeling guilty about having to switch her gift for Hermione's. He had bought the original when he was semi-dating Kerry. Now that he wasn't with Kerry, but Hermione, the gifts weren't appropriate. He had already given Hermione the very nice sapphire necklace. It cost him all the money he had after buying the few cheap presents he had for everyone else. I always felt sorry for him, not because he went broke so often, but because he was so embarrassed when he went broke. After going with Ron to buy that necklace, I went back and bought an opal necklace for Kerry. Now he had a few sweets for Kerry and a Honeyduke's gift certificate of two galleons. She finally started to open her gifts. I wanted to see what she thought of my gift. She kept moving it aside to open something else. I was right about the Weasley sweater. Mrs. Weasley had also given her some fudge and meat pies. She enjoyed all of the gifts, but she still hadn't opened mine. I was getting nervous. Mine was the last she opened. She pulled the wrapping paper off and opened the box I had put the jewelry box in. I put my arm around her again, hardly noticing my own actions. When she saw the box, I heard a sharp intake of breath. She opened it and gasped. "Oh Harry!"