Eyes. They are the gateway to the soul, or so the legend says. If you look deep into somebody's eyes you can usually tell exactly what their thinking, how they feel, even what they're going to do next, if you get deep enough into them, that is.  But not all eyes are open to that sort of inquiry. If you look into somebody's eyes and see nothing, it can only mean one thing. That person is dead inside.

Harry Potter, now 22, sat up in his sleep.  His eyes were wide open as he cried out into the night. "No!" He awoke then, blinking in the darkness. The dream he had had was very fresh in his mind, and he bounded out of bed as quickly as he could and began scribbling a letter to the first person who came to his mind.

Hermione,

            I just had a dream and there is no doubt in my mind that it is real. Please keep this letter safe and show it to somebody at the Ministry, your boss perhaps. It could save the lives of hundreds.

            I dreamed about a Death Eater meeting. It took place in a long oval room. All the death Eaters were sitting around a large rectangular table. At the front end sat Voldemort in a throne looking chair. There was a death eater on either side of him. One was Lucious Malfoy, but the other had a mask on and never said a word. I have no idea who he is, but he's important if he is sitting next to Voldemort. Anyway, Voldemort was telling the Death Eaters about a new attack plan—at Hogsmeade, next Wednesday at 2 o'clock. Hogsmeade is popular at that time of day, you know that as well as I do. Please get help.

Sincerely,

Harry

 

Harry sealed the letter in an envelope and tied it to Hedwig's leg. "Take it to Hermione, wake  her up if you have too." Harry said quietly. "Bite her if she doesn't read it immediately, okay?"

Hedwig hooted and took off through an open window. Ginny rolled over to face Harry when he went back to the bed.

"Where did you go?" She mumbled, still mostly asleep.

"I was writing a letter to Hermione." Harry said, smoothing the curls away from her face.

"What an odd hour for writing…" She tailed off into a snore. Harry sighed and tried to fall asleep again, something he couldn't seem to do. The dream irked him. He had always had dreams like this, but none had ever been so vivid, not since his 6th year at school, when Voldemort had started to slowly fail. Why now did they seem so realistic?

~~*~~

Harry woke the next morning to gentile shaking. He slowly opened his eyes. A female face came blurrily into his line of vision. "Why c-can't I sleep?" He said and yawned.

"Harry Potter, you have a bit of explaining to do!" Came Hermione's voice. Harry jumped up into a sitting position, tugging the sheets around him. What was Hermione doing in his bedroom? Then he remembered the letter. Glancing to the side, he saw that Ginny had left.  Sighing, he grabbed his glasses and shoved them on.

"Oh Hermione." Harry said groggily. "Sorry, I couldn't tell who you were…I thought you were the…cleaning lady or something."

"Harry!" Hermione cried, shaking the letter he had sent last night. "I woke up to Hedwig hooting in my ear three hours ago. I took the letter and read it and- what do you expect me to do with kind of information?"

"You work for the ministry, don't you?" Harry said, exasperatedly. "You're an Auror aren't you? Tell the head of your department!"

"It's not that easy!" Hermione said, rubbing her lips together. She looked very worried.

"Can we discuss this later?" Harry said. "I'm not dressed and- well…"

Hermione swallowed, glanced down at the sheets that Harry had pulled around himself and turned around, blushing madly.

"Oh. Yes. Of course." Hermione said in a small voice. "I didn't see-"

"Good." Harry said, cutting her off. "Keep your back turned please, whilst I get something on…what were you thinking of, just barging in like that? Really."

 "I'm sorry." Hermione said. "I waited as long as I could. I almost came strait over after reading the letter, but I thought you might be sleeping. Finally I couldn't take it, and here I am. Sorry if I frightened you. I guess you aren't used to seeing many women in your apartment in the early morning hours."

You'd be surprised. "You'd be surprised." Harry said without realizing it, as he pulled a shirt and pants on.

"What?" Hermione screeched, turning around.

"Just kidding, of course." Harry laughed, blushing now. "Anyways, back to business. You were the first person who came to mind Hermione. You can get it to somebody, cant you?"

"Well, everybody'll think I'm insane, but I probably can." Hermione said. "Or I'll try as hard as I can. You should send this sort of thing to Sirius. He's got a higher ranking than me."

"I told you, you were just the person who popped into my head."

"Maybe not even Sirius!" Hermione was in her own world, completely oblivious to Harry. "You could have sent it to James. He's friends with the Head Auror!"

"What did you just say?" Harry snapped.

"I said," Hermione said, looking at him, "You could have sent it to James, because he's friends with the Head. And when I said James, I did mean your father."

Harry made a noise in his throat and rolled his eyes. "Like I'd stoop so low." He said.

"You're such a child." Hermione said, walking out of Harry's bedroom. Harry glared at her back  and followed.  She turned to face him when she reached the main door. "Really you are. When was the last time you talked to him?"

"Six years, maybe longer." Harry said. "What does it matter? I don't need him and he doesn't need me."

"You're wrong Harry." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I'll try to get this letter to somebody who can do something with it, really, I will. Keep in touch."

"Bye Hermione." Harry said. She waved with two fingers and disappeared.

~~*~~

"We've got a lead." James told Sirius over lunch one day.

"Huh?" Sirius asked.

"Remember when I told you about Mr. Nobody?" James asked. "You know the new death eater?"

"Yes." Sirius said.

"We have a lead on him." James said. "Some anonymous emissary saw a death eater meeting in a dream. And the dreams are true."

"How do they know?" Sirius said.

"Well remember that attack two weeks ago?" James said. Sirius nodded. "That person foretold it for us."

"Are you telling me that we have a fortune teller on our side or something?" Sirius said.

"Well, yes, in a way." James said. "The 'fortune teller' told one of the lower agents in the department- that girl, Hermione. She's been promoted of course."

"How do I remain in the dark about all of this?" Sirius said. "Honestly! I didn't know Hermione had been promoted. I'll have to go congratulate her later today."

"You know the girl?" James said.

"Of course I know her!" Sirius said. "She's one of Harry's best friends , didn't you know- oh heavens."

A bell rang. James rolled his eyes and stood up. "Lunch's over. See you later."

"Bye."

~~*~~

            Dear Harry,

Mum is having a big dinner on Thursday of this week. All my family is coming home for it, and you're invited as well, because we do consider you our family. So come by the Burrow around 7:30. Write back to tell me if you're free.

            ~Ron

Harry and Ginny stared at the letter.

"Do you think I should go?" Harry asked. "I mean, it might be too awkward."

"No." Ginny said. "If you didn't go, they'd be worried. You've always come to the family dinners. If you stopped now…"

"But-" Harry said. She silenced him by pressing a finger to his mouth.

"It'll be a perfect time to tell them." Ginny said. "We've been dating for almost a year an a half. They should know."

"Are you sure?" Harry said.

"Yes." Ginny said.

"You're right." Harry said, after a long pause. "I'm sick of living this lie. It's wrong. Plus, what's the worse thing that could happen?"

Ginny smiled and kissed him. "I really do love you, at times like this."

Harry kissed her back passionately. "I love you too."

~~*~~

At dinner on Thursday, Harry and Ginny avoided each other. They exchanged a few, sneaky glances, but never words. Harry was busy talking to the twins about their business enterprises. Ginny was helping her mother in the kitchen. Ron and Hermione sat in the living room, sipping wine and talking quietly. Bill and Charlie were talking with Percy and Penelope outside and their wives were chatting together at the kitchen table.

"Dinner!" Mrs. Weasley called at 8:00. The huge group filtered into the garden where a table was laid out with a large amount of food, but then, there were almost 15 of them. Harry sat in the middle of the twins at the far end of the table. Ginny sat across from him. Ron and Hermione sat next to her.

Conversation was happy and flowing for the entire meal, but afterwards, when everybody was done eating, it came to a slight halt. Molly, who'd been talking with all the couples, had finally come to Ginny.

"You didn't bring anybody home for me this time." Molly said. "I'm not disappointed, don't you think it, but, are you seeing anybody?"

Ginny cast a long look at Harry, before saying, "Well, now that you mention it-" A crack of thunder cut her sentence in half. She looked up at the sky just as a sheet of rain poured down on them.

"Get everything into the house!" Cried Mr. Weasley. "Quickly!"

Harry and Ginny were the first to react, possibly because they were already jumpy. Harry grabbed the potato salad and Ginny followed him into the house shortly afterward with some used plates.

"We were that close." Ginny said, livid. She bobbed from one foot to the other, shaking slightly. Harry grabbed her hands to try to calm her down. "It was almost out-"

"What are you two doing?" Ron asked, entering the kitchen. Harry dropped Ginny's hands. "If you're cold Ginny, put some more clothing on. Don't bother Harry, for heavens sake. We still need help outside as well. What are you waiting for, eh?"

By the time everything was in the house, everybody was soaking and cold. Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Fred were sitting by the fire in the living room, on the floor. When everything warmed up, Fred began to strike up a conversation.

"Well, Ginny." He said, elbowing his younger sister. She looked up at him.

"What?" She asked.

"You never finished your sentence outside." He said. "You were saying 'As a matter of fact' and then the rain came pouring down. So let's continue this conversation. I'm interested. Who's your newest swain?"

"Um, well…" Ginny cleared her throat. "I've been meaning to-"

"He'd better not be older than you." Ron said, cutting her off. "I mean it Ginny. Older boys aren't good news. Do you remember when you dated Lee Jordan a few years ago? He broke your heart. He used you. We were all so mad at him, and Fred here still has a grudge, don't you Fred?"

"Not really, I've moved on. So has Ginny, I'm sure." Fred said, looking at Ron oddly. "Ginny, do finish your sentence. Ron, don't interrupt."

"Well I was going to say-"

"And then you dated Seamus a while ago, in school. Oh that was awful, wasn't it Ginny? He was only in that relationship for one thing. You got hurt by him too! I told you, I don't like you dating older men. They aren't trust worthy. So if you're dating an older guy again, you'd better be careful. Or he'd better be careful. I'm sick of seeing you get hurt Ginny. If you get hurt by this new guy…I don't know what I'll do. I'll rip him apart, probably. Why don't you date that one boy you went to school with…Colin was it? He's nice enough…"

"Ron!" Hermione cried. "That's quite enough!"

"Oh Hermione," Ron sighed. "You know how I am, just over protective. But I've got a good reason. Ginny, you're my only sister, and you're the baby of the family. We all worry about you when you date those older boys. Especially when I know them personally, because then I know exactly what'll happen to you. Like say for example, you were dating Harry." He paused and laughed. Harry and Ginny exchanged slightly frightened glances. "Harry, you're a great guy, don't get me wrong or anything, but I don't think I would be able to take it if you were dating my sister. It's because I know you so well, and I know the way your mind works. You go for those beautiful blonde girls and you do seem to attract them, what with all your press attention. I'd know that if you dated Ginny, you'd leave her for one of them, because they would offer something…you know what I'm talking about, don't you Harry? I guess that's a bad example though. You would never date Ginny, would you Harry? You two would be just awful together…I can't even think of a worse matched-"

"Ron SHUT UP!" Ginny cried, wrapping her arms around her knees. "Honestly, the way you talk! I'd say you want me to die an old maid."

"Oh of course I don't want that." Ron said, rolling his eyes and punching her lightly. "I just don't want to see you in a bad relationship again."

"I think you're a psychopath." Fred said. "You never even let Ginny answer her question. Just be quiet and don't interrupt anymore! I'll deck you, if you do again. Ginny, will you please finish you sentence now? Are you seeing anybody?"

Ginny looked at Harry, not caring who noticed. "No." She said quietly. "I'm not seeing anybody at all."

~~*~~

"Potter! Come here!"

James looked up from his paperwork. The head of the office- Mr. Fields- was standing in his doorway. James stood up and nodded to him. "What's up?"

"Step in my office; I have a new job for you." Mr. Fields said and walked down the hall. James followed him curiously. Inside the office James slumped into a leather chair.

"New job sir?" He asked.

"Well yes." Mr. Fields said. "Remember the man who wrote to Ms. Weasley about the death eater attack?"

"Of course I do." James said. "I was there when you got the news."

"I need you to get in contact with him to see if he knows anything else." Said Mr. Fields, shifting through papers. He was a thick built French man, with a menacing smile and stern eyes. James had come to know him over the years as a colleague and a friend.

"Get in contact with an anonymous person?" James said.

"He's not really anonymous." Mr. Fields said. "I just never told anybody his name, and neither did Ms. Weasley. But we know who he is."

"Well?" James said.

"Patience, I'm getting to that. Anyway, I need you to write him. You will be spending a lot of time with him from now on, though it wont matter, you already know him, I dare say. In the letter you'll ask for his cooperation and for his help…here. I have the guidelines typed up for you." He handed James a folded piece paper. "His address is on the top. You're dismissed."

"Thank you sir." James said, retreating out of the room. Lets see who the lucky sod is…. He opened the piece of paper and read silence for half a second before turning around again. The name printed on the paper was Harry Potter.

He didn't bother knocking on Mr. Fields' door before storming in. Mr. Fields looked up from his paperwork in surprise.  "Is something the matter James?"

"You'd better bet there is!" James cried, waving the paper in his face. "There is no way in hell I will work with him! There isn't enough money in the world that could pay me to do this! There aren't enough pain killers in the eastern hemisphere to get me through one day by his side! You can't be serious…you cannot make me take this assignment."

"Oh, I can." Mr. Fields said calmly. "And now more than ever. I thought you'd be happy to work with your son, obviously I'm wrong. You can use the opportunity to get to know him better. Honestly, man, don't be a child about it. I'll give you a bigger Christmas bonus this year, if that'll make you feel any better."

"It may have an impact." James muttered. "Do I actually have to come in contact with him? Can this be done through letters?"

"I don't see why not." Mr. Fields rolled his eyes. "Now get cracking. We haven't got all year to get this done. And don't forget to ask him about Mr. Nobody. He's our only hope."

"Well then I hope your hopes aren't too high." James snorted. "Harry probably wont even cooperate, if he knows that I have something to do with it…"

"Well chin up." Fields said. "So goodbye, good luck and get out!"