Chapter Two:
The next morning bloomed sunny and clear, luckily for the students who had classes outside. Harry was still pondering his dream by the end of Herbology "Hey!" Hermione exclaimed. "Where's Aslin and Gryffin?" She asked as they entered Hogwarts. "Maybe she's drowned herself." Draco suggested. "You wish," A cold voice said from behind Draco. "She lives!" Aslin joked. Harry, Ron and Hermione watched the exchange of words with interest, Gryffin was the only person who could match Draco with nasty words, or who could make Draco run away. "You're right. I do wish, in fact, I pray every night!" Draco retorted. "Why don't I give you something else to pray about?" Gryffin said, balling up her fists. "Gryffin," Harry cautioned. "What are you doing standing in my hall?" growled Argus Filch, Hogwarts caretaker. His cat, Mrs. Norris, was rubbing around his ankles glaring at the students. Gryffin bent down to pet the cat. Filch looked at her suspiciously. "We were just talking Argus, Sir." She said sweetly. "Well, go somewhere else!" He barked. "Yes, sir." Gryffin said, grabbing Ron and Harry and hauling them off. "Aye, aye Cap'n!" Aslin said, saluting smartly and then catching Hermione's arm and following Gryffin and the boys.
The five students, Harry, Ron and Hermione, Aslin and Gryffin, headed into the Great Hall for lunch, half the school were there already, including some of the teachers and Dumbledore. "Please find a seat, thank you," Dumbledore began. "I hope we are all present, I wouldn't like to repeat myself. Just a reminder, no fighting in the corriders," This he said with sharp glances in Draco's and Gryffin's directions. Harry could see that Draco at least looked a little embarrassed. Gryffin, on the other hand, was nonplussed. "The head of Hogsmeade, has informed me, that the Faire will be open the third week of October, the sixteenth, I believe. There will be games rides and much more. Hogsmeade has put out leaflets with more information about the Faire, in every shop in Hogsmeade. So the next time you go there, be sure to pick one up! Oh, and the next Hogsmeade weekend is next weekend. Remember third years and up! Now enjoy your meal." Dumbledore said to the enthralled students. Most were already discussing the Faire. "I hear they're going to have Wizard Bands there!" Parvati Patil exclaimed to her friend, Lavender Brown. "Really?" Aslin asked curiously. "Who?" "I don't know, yet. The Weird Sisters maybe. Ooh!!" Parvati squealed suddenly. "I hope Magick 'n' Mystery are there!" "Who?" Harry asked. He hated not living in the Wizarding world, he still felt stupid when his classmates talked about stuff like this. "Magick 'n' Mystery, one of the neatest bands ever! And the five cutest guys ever play in it!" Lavender said with a small squeal. "Oh, gag me." Gryffin said disdainfully. She turned to Hermione, who was just finishing her lunch. "Do you want to go and show me what I missed in Herbology?" "Yeah, let's go," Hermione said grabbing her book bag. The two girls headed up to the Gryffindor common room. Aslin looked around and saw that Gryffin had disappeared, with a yelp, she ran off after her. Ron shook his head and said, "Girls," "You should understand them, you live with one!" An indignant voice said as a hand playfully smacked Ron on the head. "Ouch Ginny!" Ron cried, pretending that Ginny had actually hurt him. "Hi Ginny," Harry said. "Hello Harry. How are you?" Ginny asked, sounding exactly like a younger version of her mother. "I'm fine, what are your brothers doing?" Harry said, trying not to laugh at Fred and Goerge's antics. "Probably 'Weasley Wizard Wheezes'," Ron remarked dryly. "Probably," Harry and Ginny agreed in unison. "I'm gonna go up to the common room, Harry, fancy a game of wizard chess," Ron challenged. "You're on!" "Can I watch?" Ginny pleaded. "Yeah, sure." Ron said and the three of them went up to the common room. *** "I'm sick of all the fuss over that stupid band!" Gryffin exclaimed as her and Hermione reached the Fat Lady's portrait. "Password?" She asked. "Bobotuber Puss." Hermione answered. "Thank you!" The Fat Lady called cheerfully. "Hey! Wait for mee!!!" Aslin called as she ran faster. Gryffin laughed and shook her head. My friend is nut! She thought. "You guys left me," Aslin said with a pout as they entered the common room. "No, you stayed behind," Gryffin pointed out. "Did not. You left," "Did too," "Did not," "Did too" "Shut up!" Hermione bellowed. Gryffin and Aslin collasped into laughter "Yes ma'am!" Aslin said, bowing to Hermione. "So, Hermione, what did we miss in Herbology?" Gryffin asked, and the silliness disappeared and they began to study. *** Harry, Ron and Ginny made it to the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Password please?" she asked. "Bobotuber Puss," Harry told her. "Have a nice day," She told them. "Oh we will," Ron assurred her. They went inside and saw Hermione, Gryffin and Aslin, bent over their work. Gryffin looked up to see had come in, gave a little wave, and went back to studying. Ron got out his chess set and him and Harry began to play. Ginny went over and watched them. A few minutes later, Gryffin got up to stretch, she passed by Harry and Ron just as the game fnished. "Check mate," Ron said happily. "You win, again." Harry said, pretending to be upset, though actually he was quite pleased with the outcome of the game. He had come closer to winning than he ever had against Ron. "Well done, Harry. You almost had me," Ron said as he looked over the board. "Yeah, almost," Harry said cynically. Gryffin examined the remains of the game, "You know, Harry. If you moved your rook here, and your bishop here. Then put your queen over here, you might have won." Ron moved the pieces around and saw that Gryffin was right. "Now I know how to beat you!" Harry said and then laughed wickedly. Suddenly, Gryffin swayed. The room spun and changed in front of her eyes. She saw Harry, Ron, Hermione, Aslin and herself enter the forest. She saw evil green eyes floating above her head. She saw flashes as curses were yelled. She saw first Hermione, then Harry go down. She saw Ron, holding Hermione. She saw Harry, his parents standing next to him, their faces sad. She saw Peter Pettigrew, the man that had betrayed Harry's parents, he was laying as if dead. Then she Dumbledore, his face was a mixture of absolute anger, and a bit of triumph. The scenes faded, and Gryffin lay on the floor, her head pounding. Professor McGonagall knealt beside her. "Are you alright, dear?" She asked Gryffin gently. Gryffin tried to speak, but no sound came out, she shook her head instead. "Alright, everyone step away from her, give her some breathing room!" Demanded Madam Pomfrey, the school's nurse. "Here, help her onto the stretcher," Pomfrey ordered. Fred, George, Harry and Ron helped put Gryffin onto the floating stretcher. McGonagall and Pomfrey escorted her to the hospital wing. "Will she be okay?" Ginny asked quietly. "I don't know," Aslin replied helplessly. She knew somewhat what happened. Gryffin had gotten a premonition. A very bad premonition, if Aslin's guess was right. "I'll be back," Aslin said suddenly and raced after Gryffin. When she got to the hospital wing, Gryffin was sitting up in a bed, talking to McGonagall. "Are you okay?" Aslin asked her friend. "I will be," Gryffin replied. "You had a strong premonition?" Aslin guessed. "Yes. I saw Harry and Hermione possibly dead. And something that made Dumbledore very angry, but something that had made him triumphant," Gryffin told her and McGonagall. "Unfortunately, Professor Dumbledore has gone to The Ministry of Magic, to meet the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher." McGonagall told them "I hate keeping this secret from Harry, Ron and Hermione. If I keep it much longer, they won't trust either Aslin or I," Gryffin said forlornly. "Then start telling them as much as you dare," Aslin said. "Before Malfoy decides to spill everything." "He is a problem," Gryffin agreed. "Draco Malfoy?" McGonagall asked. "Yes," Gryffin and Aslin said in unison. "He's been coming around more often, trying to get Gryffin to blurt out something that would give her away. Or he's been trying to give her away himself." Aslin said. "I've been scaring him off, but he keeps coming back." Gryffin said tiredly. Just them Madam Pomfrey came back, and began to shoo out Aslin and McGonagall. "You know what?" Gryffin asked as she drank the sleep potion Pomfrey had given her. "I wonder what Potter and the others would do, if they knew Voldemort was my god-father." *** After Aslin had rushed out, Harry, Ron and Hermione, not to mention Ginny, Fred and George, stood dumbstruck. "Do you think that there's something their not telling us?" Ron asked. "No. Why do you think that?" Hermione replied sarcastically. "I'm going to find out sooner or later," she said forcibly and stormed off. "She probably will too," Ron said as he headed for the portrait door. "You gonna come down to dinner?" Ron asked Harry. "I'm not that hungry," Harry said. Ron shrugged and let. He hoped Hermione had gone down to eat and not to the library. He wanted to talk to her, but he was starving! After Ron had left, Harry sat staring into the flickering flames of the fire. September was ending and it was already beginning to grow colder. Harry shivered. He thought about all the dreams he had been having. They didn't make sense. The last one really had him worried, he looked as if he had been....dead. That thought scared him. A pecking at the window startled him out of his reverie. Hedwig was tapping at the window, a letter in her claws. Harry got out of the comfortable red chair and went to let Hedwig in. She landed on the back of the chair. As Harry closed the window, he noticed that it had begun to rain. He took the letter from Hedwig, she perched on the arm of the chair and Harry petted her while he read. The letter was from Sirius! It read: Dear Harry, Here is your form to go to the Faire, I hear it will be fun. I might show up, under disguise of course. So don't worry. Buckbeak is fine. I'm fine. Harry, I hear that Voldemort is growing stronger, and that he is near Hogwarts. I hope you will be carefull and not go looking for trouble. Sirius
"Don't go looking for trouble?" Harry said to himself. "I never go looking for trouble, well, maybe just a little bit." He admitted. Harry stared out the window a while and just watched the rain. He began to get tired and fell asleep in the chair. *** Harry lay on the ground, a figure of evil bent over him. Gryffin screamed and the figured looked up. Harry opened his eyes in time to see the figure move away from him. He saw his parents standing over him, their faces were sad. He felt something hot seeping down his head, he touched his hand gingerly to his head. When he pulled it away, it was covered in blood. Harry looked over to where he last saw Gryffin. Where she had been, there was now a woman. Her skin was black and she had a necklace of shrunken skulls around her neck. She laughed evilily. Harry saw that she was fighting with the evil figure. He hoped the woman won. Someone touched his side, startled, he looked up. It was Ron, he had an unconscious Hermione laying next to him. Just as Ron was about to speak, there was a loud crash, Harry moved to look, all he saw was a blinding white light, which seemed to grow dull and duller. Soon all Harry saw was blackness, and he drifted into oblivion once more. *** Someone shook Harry awake, he opened he eyes. Gryffin and Aslin were looking at him. "Are you okay? We came in here and you looked like you were dreaming pretty badly," Aslin said, concerned. "I'm fine, just a bad dream." Harry said, to assure her, and himself, that he was okay. "Here, drink this," Gryffin said thrusting a goblet at him. "It smells horrible," He said. "It tastes horrible too. Just drink it!" Gryffin told him. Harry did as he was commanded, and drank what was in the goblet. "Now you won't have any dreams tonight," Gryffin gauranteed him. "Where'd you get that?" Harry asked Gryffin, as he handed to goblet back to her. "Professor Snape made it for me. I figured you might need it more. I'll make another for myself," She replied. "Oh. What exactly was it?" He asked. "An anti-dream potion," Aslin said. "Basically, I don't think he named it yet," Gryffin agreed. "Have you been sleeping badly, Gryffin?" Harry asked her. "Yes," she replied quietly. Before Harry could ask another question, Ron and Hermione, and the rest of the Gryffindor's, came into the room. "Let's have some fun!" Fred yelled as he and George set off Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks. "Not in here!" Hermione cried as her precious schoolwork got in the way of the fireworks. As Hermione cleared the table of her schoolwork, Fred and George set out some of the food they nicked from the kitchen. Harry suddenly hungry wnet to inspect the food. "Don't worry Harry, only the Canary Creams are messed with." George told him. Harry was less than assured, however, he had a bit of a Treacle Tart, and some lemon meringue pie. The little party ended almost as quickly as it started. Most of the students were already tired and others relized that they had important classes in the morning. Harry and Ron trudged up to their dormitory behind Neville, Dean and Seamus. The five boys didn't talk much as they climbed into ther bedclothes and got into bed. *** Gryffin lay awake for awhile, after everyone had gone to bed. She had her window open and was listening to the rain. A flash of lightning came and then the roll of thunder. She thought about her life, and where it had come to. Another flash came, and Gryffin could see all the details of her room. Her canopy bed, the nightstand. Her private bookshelf and the chair next to it. Her fireplace was lit and her owl's cage stood on it's stand. Her cat, Thoughtful, was curled up at the foot of her bed. Her schoolbooks were stacked on her desk. There was another flash of lightning, and Gryffin's owl, Conscience, came hurtling thtough the window. Conscince was a black eagle-owl. Her distinguishing feature, was a white lightning bolt down her back. Gryffin got up to tend to her pet. She set the letter Conscience was carrying, on her desk, and filled the big birds water dish. The owl taken care of, Gryffin got the letter and curled back up in her bed. She hoped it was from her friend Caresse. Opening it eargerly, Gryffin was soon very disappointed. The letter was from her god-father. Reading it brought back so many good and bad memories for Gryffin. Her god-father told her that he was finally well again, and would probably be seeing her soon. When she finished reading the letter, Gryffin crumpled it into a tiny ball, and flung it at the wall. Sinking down under her covers, Gryffin cried herself to sleep. *** The next morning, Harry and his friends were sitting in the boring History of Magic class. Gryffin, normally an alert student, was resting her elbows on the desk and had her head in her hands. No one noticed that she was asleep. Ron had one elbow on his desk and was staring around the room, not paying attention. Harry was sitting staring out the window, the sky was still grey, but it had quit raining. Aslin was drawing on the paper that she was supposed to be writing notes on. She was drawing to girls dancing under a full moon, little faires bordered her drawing. Hermione was sitting up, taking in every detail about the goblin rebellions that Professor Binns was droning on about. The rest of the class was in the same state as Harry, Ron, Gryffin and Aslin. "Now remember, do your report on Goblin Rebellions. There might be a test later on," Professor Binns said in his usual monotone voice. "Class dismissed." It took all of three seconds for the class to leave. "That has to be the most boring class!" Ron complained loudly. "It is not boring," Hermione huffed. "It is very informative." They were heading to their Charms class, ahead of them Parvati and Lavender were discussing the Faire. "Did you hear? Mystery 'n' Magick will be performing there!" Parvati squealed to Lavender. "Really?" Lavender asked, excited at the fact that she might get to meet her most favorite band. "Why can't they just shut up about that band?" Gryffin said through a huge yawn. "Because they're girls," Ron said. Hermione smacked his arm. Harry and Aslin were conversing animatedly about Quidditch. "I really, really wish they would start Quidditch practice, or just start Quidditch, skip the practice!" Aslin said. "It's only two weeks away," Harry told her. "I know, but I'm impatient!" "Don't I know it," Gryffin said. Aslin stuck her tongue out at Gryffin, who returned the favor. "You two act like sisters," Ron told them. "We know. But unfortunately, we're not. I have enough to handle with Hawk and Kestrel." "Who are they?" Hermione asked curiously. Maybe they would find out a bit of Gryffin's past. "My younger brother and sister. They're ten and are twins," Gryffin informed them as they entered the Charms classroom. Poor Professor Flitwick was so short, he had to stand on three books stacked on his chair to see over his desk. "Today," He said as the students scrambled into seats. "We will work on a very special charm." The class looked expectant. "The charm is the ," "I've been trying to practice saying this at home," Harry could hear Hermione whisper. He smiled, that sounded like Hermione. The class passed by eneventfully, however, as Harry and his friends were walking down to the Great Hall for lunch, trouble presented itself. Draco, Crabbe and Goyle, strode up to Harry, Ron, Hermione, Gryffin and Aslin. "What have we here?" Draco sneered. "I hear you've been passing out, Gryffin. There something you want to tell me?" He looked around to see how everyone took in what he said. "I don't know why you hang out with these, dorks," Draco gestured to Gryffin's present company. "The same reason you hang out with those idiots," Gryffin snapped back. "And they're not dorks." "Yeah, you tell him, Gryffin!" Ron cheered. "Stay out of this Weasley!" Draco barked. Ron turned bright red. Harry could see him balling up his fists. Before anyone could say another word, Ron punched Draco square in the nose. Not hard enough to break, but still made it bleed. "Ron!" Hermione exclaimed. "You'll regret that Weasley!" Draco cried as Crabbe and Goyle moved towards Ron. Harry interposed himself inbetween them. "Ooh, there's gonna be a fight!" Aslin declared. "Draco, you know better than to start a fight with or near me," Gryffin warned. Draco gace his reply in the form of a fist aimed at Gryffin's face. She ducked to the side, and Draco's fist hit the stone wall of the castle. Harry and Ron were doing their best not to get hit by Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione and Aslin were standing well away from the fighting. Hermione was trying to think of a spell to stop the fighting, Aslin was cheering on Gryffin, and giving the commentary. "Ooh, and Malfoy throws a right hook, which is cleverly blocked by Nightwind,' Gryffin knocked Draco to the floor after his right hook, he pulled out his wand. "Going to curse me? Hmm?" Gryffin practically growled. Draco yelled "Impedimenta" at Gryffin, who dodged the spell and decided there was enough fighting. She stuck out her hand and a small knife appeared in her palm, and neatly cut Draco's wand in two. Gryffin turned to where Harry and Ron were grappling with Crabbe and Goyle. Goyle had Harry in a headlock, and Harry was turning from purple to blue, and Ron was crushed under Crabbe's hulking weight. "Enough!" Gryffin yelled, and everyone froze, everyone except Aslin, who walked over to Gryffin's statues, admiring the look on their faces. "I like that look on Draco, goes with his complexion very nicely," Aslin said, grinning at the horrified look on Draco's face. "I guess I should un-freeze them, huh?" Gryffin asked, pulling out her wand. "How are you going to un-freeze them?" Aslin asked curiously. She knew Gryffin knew things that no one else did, but un-freezing? "Atnemidepmi!" Gryffin shouted, pointing her wand at the frozen figures. The sound of ice cracking filled the hallway, Gryffin grimaced, she could hide the sound of students fighting, but ice breaking? No way. "What in Godric Gryffindor's name is going on?!" Professor McGonagall barked. She had heard the sound of ice breaking and went to investigate. Seeing Aslin and Gryffin standing in the middle of six frozen figures, did not hold pleasent images in her mind. "What in bloody hell did you do to my wand?!" Draco bellowed as soon as he was thawed. Crabbe and Goyle, upon seeing the Professor, stopped trying to murder Harry and Ron. Hermione, was deeply perplexed. One minute, Aslin was standing next to her, cheering on Gryffin, then she's standing next to Gryffin, who's six feet away! She went to help Ron stand up. Harry was gasping for air. "You broke my wand! You-" He stopped in mid-sentence when he saw the look on McGonagall's face. "Gryffin, I would suggest you start controlling your temper. Now, what happened to Mr. Malfoy's wand?" "I cut it in half?" Gryffin suggested timidly. "That seems remarkable, since you have no knives on you," came Professor Snape's sardonic voice. "Um, well, I...er..." Gryffin stammered as she glanced at the sudden crowd of students. "Can we go to an office or empty classroom?" Gryffin asked nervously, she wasn't thrilled at the idea of the whole school knowing one of her secrets! "Yes, we will go to my office," McGonagall said. "You seven will come with us. Severus? Would you lead the way?" The small procession made their way to the office and once they were all in there, and the door shut, McGonagall rounded on the students. "All of you! Fifth years fighting in the hall!" She roared. "You, Gryffin, of all the students, should know better!" As she went on and on, the students found themselves wincing everytime she opened her mouth. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and fifty from Slytherin!" She scolded. "Now," McGonagall said as she calmed down slightly. "Gryffin, how exactly did you cut Mr. Malfoy's wand in half?" "Well, like this," Gryffin said holding up her hand. A small incision appeared, and a small silver knife appeared, before it could fall on the floor, Gryffin gripped it's handle. "I'm going to be sick!" Hermione anounced. "Alright, we will talk about that in a moment. Severus, I will let you deal with your three, the rest of you, excluding Gryffin and Aslin, may go." "I always hope she'll forget my name," Aslin whispered to Gryffin as everyone left. As he walked out the door, Harry gave the two girls another glance. Both stood in McGonagall's office, as if they were there everyday. "I want you two to tell me, or show me, any and all of your unexplainable powers," McGonagall said as she sat behind her desk. *** "Whew! That was a close one back there!" Ron exclaimed when they got to the safety of the Gryffindor common room. "She should have taken more points away," Harry said quietly. "What was that?" Ron asked. "Nothing," Harry said quickly. "How was Gryffin able to do that?" Hermione asked. "I dunno, but it was wicked cool!" Ron said. "I just realized! I missed Arithmancy! And you two missed Divination!" Hermione exclaimed, throughly upset at having completely missed, and forgotten, a class. "Cheer up, 'Mione, you can find out what you missed tomorrow," Ron said to her. "Yeah, and it's not like Ron and I missed a particularly good lesson," Harry told her. The portrait door opened, and the other Gryffindor's came in. "Harry, Ron, where were you two?" Lavender asked. "You missed such a good lesson!" Parvati said. Harry and Ron looked at each other and laughed. "Harry and Ron, decided to pick a fight with Draco, Crabbe and Goyle. So we were in McGonagall's office getting yelled at," Hermione said, still pouting about her missed lesson. "Are you guys okay?" Seamus asked the boys. "I think I'm a little flatter from where Crabbe sat on me," Ron said, examining himself. "Though you should have seen the bloody nose I gave Malfoy!" The other Gryffindor boys crowded around Harry and Ron, so they could hear all the details of the fight. "Boys," Hermione muttered with disgust. "Speaking of boys," Parvati said, digging in her bag and coming up with a huge picture. "This is Magick 'n' Mystery," Lavender began pointing out the band members. "This is Jon Gallagher, and this is David Cunningham. Oh! And this is Lucas Black. And these two," She said pointing to two boys in front. "Are Scott MacDougal and Jace O'Riley." "Uh huh," Was all Hermione could say before the portrait door burst open, and Gryffin and Aslin came inside. "You okay?" Hermione asked them in concern. "We're great," Gryffin practically snapped. Aslin had found the Magick 'n' Mystery poster and was staring avidly at Jace. "Aslin! Snap out of it!" Gryffin said, snapping her fingers in front of Aslin's face. "Huh? Oh, sorry," Aslin said blushing. "So what did McGonagall say to you?" Ron asked coming up to Gryffin. "To quit fighting in the hall, be good little girls, you know, the usual stuff," Gryffin lied. Aslin raised an eyebrow. "She also told us to brush our teeth and eat our vegetables." Aslin said with a serious look on her face. Gryffin burst out laughing. She turned and went upstairs to her room. She had just remembered that she wanted to let Aslin read the letter from her god-father. When Gryffin left, Aslin picked up the poster and began to stare at it again. "Do you like them?" Parvati asked her. "Yes, I like Jace alot. So much in fact he's-" Before Aslin could finish, Gryffin came down the stairs, calling for her. "What is it Gryff?" She asked. "Come here, I want you read somthing," Gryffin said innocently. "Oh alright," Aslin said with a sigh. Aslin followed Gryffin up to her room, once the door had been shut tightly, Gryffin shoved a letter in her face. "What this?" Aslin asked. "A letter from..." Gryffin dropped her voice. "Voldemort." "Oh," Aslin said, a little surprised. "He hasn't written you since...since..." She trailed off "Since his second meeting with Harry," Gryffin finished. "So, he's coming back?" Aslin asked. "I believe so. From what my dreams have been portraying...." She let the words hang in the air. "We'd better give this to McGonagall." Aslin told Gryffiin. "I know. I received it last night. Come on, let's go," Gryffin said unhappily. The two of them slipped out of the Gryffindor tower, unaware that Hermione's eyes watched their every move. ***
The next morning bloomed sunny and clear, luckily for the students who had classes outside. Harry was still pondering his dream by the end of Herbology "Hey!" Hermione exclaimed. "Where's Aslin and Gryffin?" She asked as they entered Hogwarts. "Maybe she's drowned herself." Draco suggested. "You wish," A cold voice said from behind Draco. "She lives!" Aslin joked. Harry, Ron and Hermione watched the exchange of words with interest, Gryffin was the only person who could match Draco with nasty words, or who could make Draco run away. "You're right. I do wish, in fact, I pray every night!" Draco retorted. "Why don't I give you something else to pray about?" Gryffin said, balling up her fists. "Gryffin," Harry cautioned. "What are you doing standing in my hall?" growled Argus Filch, Hogwarts caretaker. His cat, Mrs. Norris, was rubbing around his ankles glaring at the students. Gryffin bent down to pet the cat. Filch looked at her suspiciously. "We were just talking Argus, Sir." She said sweetly. "Well, go somewhere else!" He barked. "Yes, sir." Gryffin said, grabbing Ron and Harry and hauling them off. "Aye, aye Cap'n!" Aslin said, saluting smartly and then catching Hermione's arm and following Gryffin and the boys.
The five students, Harry, Ron and Hermione, Aslin and Gryffin, headed into the Great Hall for lunch, half the school were there already, including some of the teachers and Dumbledore. "Please find a seat, thank you," Dumbledore began. "I hope we are all present, I wouldn't like to repeat myself. Just a reminder, no fighting in the corriders," This he said with sharp glances in Draco's and Gryffin's directions. Harry could see that Draco at least looked a little embarrassed. Gryffin, on the other hand, was nonplussed. "The head of Hogsmeade, has informed me, that the Faire will be open the third week of October, the sixteenth, I believe. There will be games rides and much more. Hogsmeade has put out leaflets with more information about the Faire, in every shop in Hogsmeade. So the next time you go there, be sure to pick one up! Oh, and the next Hogsmeade weekend is next weekend. Remember third years and up! Now enjoy your meal." Dumbledore said to the enthralled students. Most were already discussing the Faire. "I hear they're going to have Wizard Bands there!" Parvati Patil exclaimed to her friend, Lavender Brown. "Really?" Aslin asked curiously. "Who?" "I don't know, yet. The Weird Sisters maybe. Ooh!!" Parvati squealed suddenly. "I hope Magick 'n' Mystery are there!" "Who?" Harry asked. He hated not living in the Wizarding world, he still felt stupid when his classmates talked about stuff like this. "Magick 'n' Mystery, one of the neatest bands ever! And the five cutest guys ever play in it!" Lavender said with a small squeal. "Oh, gag me." Gryffin said disdainfully. She turned to Hermione, who was just finishing her lunch. "Do you want to go and show me what I missed in Herbology?" "Yeah, let's go," Hermione said grabbing her book bag. The two girls headed up to the Gryffindor common room. Aslin looked around and saw that Gryffin had disappeared, with a yelp, she ran off after her. Ron shook his head and said, "Girls," "You should understand them, you live with one!" An indignant voice said as a hand playfully smacked Ron on the head. "Ouch Ginny!" Ron cried, pretending that Ginny had actually hurt him. "Hi Ginny," Harry said. "Hello Harry. How are you?" Ginny asked, sounding exactly like a younger version of her mother. "I'm fine, what are your brothers doing?" Harry said, trying not to laugh at Fred and Goerge's antics. "Probably 'Weasley Wizard Wheezes'," Ron remarked dryly. "Probably," Harry and Ginny agreed in unison. "I'm gonna go up to the common room, Harry, fancy a game of wizard chess," Ron challenged. "You're on!" "Can I watch?" Ginny pleaded. "Yeah, sure." Ron said and the three of them went up to the common room. *** "I'm sick of all the fuss over that stupid band!" Gryffin exclaimed as her and Hermione reached the Fat Lady's portrait. "Password?" She asked. "Bobotuber Puss." Hermione answered. "Thank you!" The Fat Lady called cheerfully. "Hey! Wait for mee!!!" Aslin called as she ran faster. Gryffin laughed and shook her head. My friend is nut! She thought. "You guys left me," Aslin said with a pout as they entered the common room. "No, you stayed behind," Gryffin pointed out. "Did not. You left," "Did too," "Did not," "Did too" "Shut up!" Hermione bellowed. Gryffin and Aslin collasped into laughter "Yes ma'am!" Aslin said, bowing to Hermione. "So, Hermione, what did we miss in Herbology?" Gryffin asked, and the silliness disappeared and they began to study. *** Harry, Ron and Ginny made it to the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Password please?" she asked. "Bobotuber Puss," Harry told her. "Have a nice day," She told them. "Oh we will," Ron assurred her. They went inside and saw Hermione, Gryffin and Aslin, bent over their work. Gryffin looked up to see had come in, gave a little wave, and went back to studying. Ron got out his chess set and him and Harry began to play. Ginny went over and watched them. A few minutes later, Gryffin got up to stretch, she passed by Harry and Ron just as the game fnished. "Check mate," Ron said happily. "You win, again." Harry said, pretending to be upset, though actually he was quite pleased with the outcome of the game. He had come closer to winning than he ever had against Ron. "Well done, Harry. You almost had me," Ron said as he looked over the board. "Yeah, almost," Harry said cynically. Gryffin examined the remains of the game, "You know, Harry. If you moved your rook here, and your bishop here. Then put your queen over here, you might have won." Ron moved the pieces around and saw that Gryffin was right. "Now I know how to beat you!" Harry said and then laughed wickedly. Suddenly, Gryffin swayed. The room spun and changed in front of her eyes. She saw Harry, Ron, Hermione, Aslin and herself enter the forest. She saw evil green eyes floating above her head. She saw flashes as curses were yelled. She saw first Hermione, then Harry go down. She saw Ron, holding Hermione. She saw Harry, his parents standing next to him, their faces sad. She saw Peter Pettigrew, the man that had betrayed Harry's parents, he was laying as if dead. Then she Dumbledore, his face was a mixture of absolute anger, and a bit of triumph. The scenes faded, and Gryffin lay on the floor, her head pounding. Professor McGonagall knealt beside her. "Are you alright, dear?" She asked Gryffin gently. Gryffin tried to speak, but no sound came out, she shook her head instead. "Alright, everyone step away from her, give her some breathing room!" Demanded Madam Pomfrey, the school's nurse. "Here, help her onto the stretcher," Pomfrey ordered. Fred, George, Harry and Ron helped put Gryffin onto the floating stretcher. McGonagall and Pomfrey escorted her to the hospital wing. "Will she be okay?" Ginny asked quietly. "I don't know," Aslin replied helplessly. She knew somewhat what happened. Gryffin had gotten a premonition. A very bad premonition, if Aslin's guess was right. "I'll be back," Aslin said suddenly and raced after Gryffin. When she got to the hospital wing, Gryffin was sitting up in a bed, talking to McGonagall. "Are you okay?" Aslin asked her friend. "I will be," Gryffin replied. "You had a strong premonition?" Aslin guessed. "Yes. I saw Harry and Hermione possibly dead. And something that made Dumbledore very angry, but something that had made him triumphant," Gryffin told her and McGonagall. "Unfortunately, Professor Dumbledore has gone to The Ministry of Magic, to meet the new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher." McGonagall told them "I hate keeping this secret from Harry, Ron and Hermione. If I keep it much longer, they won't trust either Aslin or I," Gryffin said forlornly. "Then start telling them as much as you dare," Aslin said. "Before Malfoy decides to spill everything." "He is a problem," Gryffin agreed. "Draco Malfoy?" McGonagall asked. "Yes," Gryffin and Aslin said in unison. "He's been coming around more often, trying to get Gryffin to blurt out something that would give her away. Or he's been trying to give her away himself." Aslin said. "I've been scaring him off, but he keeps coming back." Gryffin said tiredly. Just them Madam Pomfrey came back, and began to shoo out Aslin and McGonagall. "You know what?" Gryffin asked as she drank the sleep potion Pomfrey had given her. "I wonder what Potter and the others would do, if they knew Voldemort was my god-father." *** After Aslin had rushed out, Harry, Ron and Hermione, not to mention Ginny, Fred and George, stood dumbstruck. "Do you think that there's something their not telling us?" Ron asked. "No. Why do you think that?" Hermione replied sarcastically. "I'm going to find out sooner or later," she said forcibly and stormed off. "She probably will too," Ron said as he headed for the portrait door. "You gonna come down to dinner?" Ron asked Harry. "I'm not that hungry," Harry said. Ron shrugged and let. He hoped Hermione had gone down to eat and not to the library. He wanted to talk to her, but he was starving! After Ron had left, Harry sat staring into the flickering flames of the fire. September was ending and it was already beginning to grow colder. Harry shivered. He thought about all the dreams he had been having. They didn't make sense. The last one really had him worried, he looked as if he had been....dead. That thought scared him. A pecking at the window startled him out of his reverie. Hedwig was tapping at the window, a letter in her claws. Harry got out of the comfortable red chair and went to let Hedwig in. She landed on the back of the chair. As Harry closed the window, he noticed that it had begun to rain. He took the letter from Hedwig, she perched on the arm of the chair and Harry petted her while he read. The letter was from Sirius! It read: Dear Harry, Here is your form to go to the Faire, I hear it will be fun. I might show up, under disguise of course. So don't worry. Buckbeak is fine. I'm fine. Harry, I hear that Voldemort is growing stronger, and that he is near Hogwarts. I hope you will be carefull and not go looking for trouble. Sirius
"Don't go looking for trouble?" Harry said to himself. "I never go looking for trouble, well, maybe just a little bit." He admitted. Harry stared out the window a while and just watched the rain. He began to get tired and fell asleep in the chair. *** Harry lay on the ground, a figure of evil bent over him. Gryffin screamed and the figured looked up. Harry opened his eyes in time to see the figure move away from him. He saw his parents standing over him, their faces were sad. He felt something hot seeping down his head, he touched his hand gingerly to his head. When he pulled it away, it was covered in blood. Harry looked over to where he last saw Gryffin. Where she had been, there was now a woman. Her skin was black and she had a necklace of shrunken skulls around her neck. She laughed evilily. Harry saw that she was fighting with the evil figure. He hoped the woman won. Someone touched his side, startled, he looked up. It was Ron, he had an unconscious Hermione laying next to him. Just as Ron was about to speak, there was a loud crash, Harry moved to look, all he saw was a blinding white light, which seemed to grow dull and duller. Soon all Harry saw was blackness, and he drifted into oblivion once more. *** Someone shook Harry awake, he opened he eyes. Gryffin and Aslin were looking at him. "Are you okay? We came in here and you looked like you were dreaming pretty badly," Aslin said, concerned. "I'm fine, just a bad dream." Harry said, to assure her, and himself, that he was okay. "Here, drink this," Gryffin said thrusting a goblet at him. "It smells horrible," He said. "It tastes horrible too. Just drink it!" Gryffin told him. Harry did as he was commanded, and drank what was in the goblet. "Now you won't have any dreams tonight," Gryffin gauranteed him. "Where'd you get that?" Harry asked Gryffin, as he handed to goblet back to her. "Professor Snape made it for me. I figured you might need it more. I'll make another for myself," She replied. "Oh. What exactly was it?" He asked. "An anti-dream potion," Aslin said. "Basically, I don't think he named it yet," Gryffin agreed. "Have you been sleeping badly, Gryffin?" Harry asked her. "Yes," she replied quietly. Before Harry could ask another question, Ron and Hermione, and the rest of the Gryffindor's, came into the room. "Let's have some fun!" Fred yelled as he and George set off Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks. "Not in here!" Hermione cried as her precious schoolwork got in the way of the fireworks. As Hermione cleared the table of her schoolwork, Fred and George set out some of the food they nicked from the kitchen. Harry suddenly hungry wnet to inspect the food. "Don't worry Harry, only the Canary Creams are messed with." George told him. Harry was less than assured, however, he had a bit of a Treacle Tart, and some lemon meringue pie. The little party ended almost as quickly as it started. Most of the students were already tired and others relized that they had important classes in the morning. Harry and Ron trudged up to their dormitory behind Neville, Dean and Seamus. The five boys didn't talk much as they climbed into ther bedclothes and got into bed. *** Gryffin lay awake for awhile, after everyone had gone to bed. She had her window open and was listening to the rain. A flash of lightning came and then the roll of thunder. She thought about her life, and where it had come to. Another flash came, and Gryffin could see all the details of her room. Her canopy bed, the nightstand. Her private bookshelf and the chair next to it. Her fireplace was lit and her owl's cage stood on it's stand. Her cat, Thoughtful, was curled up at the foot of her bed. Her schoolbooks were stacked on her desk. There was another flash of lightning, and Gryffin's owl, Conscience, came hurtling thtough the window. Conscince was a black eagle-owl. Her distinguishing feature, was a white lightning bolt down her back. Gryffin got up to tend to her pet. She set the letter Conscience was carrying, on her desk, and filled the big birds water dish. The owl taken care of, Gryffin got the letter and curled back up in her bed. She hoped it was from her friend Caresse. Opening it eargerly, Gryffin was soon very disappointed. The letter was from her god-father. Reading it brought back so many good and bad memories for Gryffin. Her god-father told her that he was finally well again, and would probably be seeing her soon. When she finished reading the letter, Gryffin crumpled it into a tiny ball, and flung it at the wall. Sinking down under her covers, Gryffin cried herself to sleep. *** The next morning, Harry and his friends were sitting in the boring History of Magic class. Gryffin, normally an alert student, was resting her elbows on the desk and had her head in her hands. No one noticed that she was asleep. Ron had one elbow on his desk and was staring around the room, not paying attention. Harry was sitting staring out the window, the sky was still grey, but it had quit raining. Aslin was drawing on the paper that she was supposed to be writing notes on. She was drawing to girls dancing under a full moon, little faires bordered her drawing. Hermione was sitting up, taking in every detail about the goblin rebellions that Professor Binns was droning on about. The rest of the class was in the same state as Harry, Ron, Gryffin and Aslin. "Now remember, do your report on Goblin Rebellions. There might be a test later on," Professor Binns said in his usual monotone voice. "Class dismissed." It took all of three seconds for the class to leave. "That has to be the most boring class!" Ron complained loudly. "It is not boring," Hermione huffed. "It is very informative." They were heading to their Charms class, ahead of them Parvati and Lavender were discussing the Faire. "Did you hear? Mystery 'n' Magick will be performing there!" Parvati squealed to Lavender. "Really?" Lavender asked, excited at the fact that she might get to meet her most favorite band. "Why can't they just shut up about that band?" Gryffin said through a huge yawn. "Because they're girls," Ron said. Hermione smacked his arm. Harry and Aslin were conversing animatedly about Quidditch. "I really, really wish they would start Quidditch practice, or just start Quidditch, skip the practice!" Aslin said. "It's only two weeks away," Harry told her. "I know, but I'm impatient!" "Don't I know it," Gryffin said. Aslin stuck her tongue out at Gryffin, who returned the favor. "You two act like sisters," Ron told them. "We know. But unfortunately, we're not. I have enough to handle with Hawk and Kestrel." "Who are they?" Hermione asked curiously. Maybe they would find out a bit of Gryffin's past. "My younger brother and sister. They're ten and are twins," Gryffin informed them as they entered the Charms classroom. Poor Professor Flitwick was so short, he had to stand on three books stacked on his chair to see over his desk. "Today," He said as the students scrambled into seats. "We will work on a very special charm." The class looked expectant. "The charm is the ," "I've been trying to practice saying this at home," Harry could hear Hermione whisper. He smiled, that sounded like Hermione. The class passed by eneventfully, however, as Harry and his friends were walking down to the Great Hall for lunch, trouble presented itself. Draco, Crabbe and Goyle, strode up to Harry, Ron, Hermione, Gryffin and Aslin. "What have we here?" Draco sneered. "I hear you've been passing out, Gryffin. There something you want to tell me?" He looked around to see how everyone took in what he said. "I don't know why you hang out with these, dorks," Draco gestured to Gryffin's present company. "The same reason you hang out with those idiots," Gryffin snapped back. "And they're not dorks." "Yeah, you tell him, Gryffin!" Ron cheered. "Stay out of this Weasley!" Draco barked. Ron turned bright red. Harry could see him balling up his fists. Before anyone could say another word, Ron punched Draco square in the nose. Not hard enough to break, but still made it bleed. "Ron!" Hermione exclaimed. "You'll regret that Weasley!" Draco cried as Crabbe and Goyle moved towards Ron. Harry interposed himself inbetween them. "Ooh, there's gonna be a fight!" Aslin declared. "Draco, you know better than to start a fight with or near me," Gryffin warned. Draco gace his reply in the form of a fist aimed at Gryffin's face. She ducked to the side, and Draco's fist hit the stone wall of the castle. Harry and Ron were doing their best not to get hit by Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione and Aslin were standing well away from the fighting. Hermione was trying to think of a spell to stop the fighting, Aslin was cheering on Gryffin, and giving the commentary. "Ooh, and Malfoy throws a right hook, which is cleverly blocked by Nightwind,' Gryffin knocked Draco to the floor after his right hook, he pulled out his wand. "Going to curse me? Hmm?" Gryffin practically growled. Draco yelled "Impedimenta" at Gryffin, who dodged the spell and decided there was enough fighting. She stuck out her hand and a small knife appeared in her palm, and neatly cut Draco's wand in two. Gryffin turned to where Harry and Ron were grappling with Crabbe and Goyle. Goyle had Harry in a headlock, and Harry was turning from purple to blue, and Ron was crushed under Crabbe's hulking weight. "Enough!" Gryffin yelled, and everyone froze, everyone except Aslin, who walked over to Gryffin's statues, admiring the look on their faces. "I like that look on Draco, goes with his complexion very nicely," Aslin said, grinning at the horrified look on Draco's face. "I guess I should un-freeze them, huh?" Gryffin asked, pulling out her wand. "How are you going to un-freeze them?" Aslin asked curiously. She knew Gryffin knew things that no one else did, but un-freezing? "Atnemidepmi!" Gryffin shouted, pointing her wand at the frozen figures. The sound of ice cracking filled the hallway, Gryffin grimaced, she could hide the sound of students fighting, but ice breaking? No way. "What in Godric Gryffindor's name is going on?!" Professor McGonagall barked. She had heard the sound of ice breaking and went to investigate. Seeing Aslin and Gryffin standing in the middle of six frozen figures, did not hold pleasent images in her mind. "What in bloody hell did you do to my wand?!" Draco bellowed as soon as he was thawed. Crabbe and Goyle, upon seeing the Professor, stopped trying to murder Harry and Ron. Hermione, was deeply perplexed. One minute, Aslin was standing next to her, cheering on Gryffin, then she's standing next to Gryffin, who's six feet away! She went to help Ron stand up. Harry was gasping for air. "You broke my wand! You-" He stopped in mid-sentence when he saw the look on McGonagall's face. "Gryffin, I would suggest you start controlling your temper. Now, what happened to Mr. Malfoy's wand?" "I cut it in half?" Gryffin suggested timidly. "That seems remarkable, since you have no knives on you," came Professor Snape's sardonic voice. "Um, well, I...er..." Gryffin stammered as she glanced at the sudden crowd of students. "Can we go to an office or empty classroom?" Gryffin asked nervously, she wasn't thrilled at the idea of the whole school knowing one of her secrets! "Yes, we will go to my office," McGonagall said. "You seven will come with us. Severus? Would you lead the way?" The small procession made their way to the office and once they were all in there, and the door shut, McGonagall rounded on the students. "All of you! Fifth years fighting in the hall!" She roared. "You, Gryffin, of all the students, should know better!" As she went on and on, the students found themselves wincing everytime she opened her mouth. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and fifty from Slytherin!" She scolded. "Now," McGonagall said as she calmed down slightly. "Gryffin, how exactly did you cut Mr. Malfoy's wand in half?" "Well, like this," Gryffin said holding up her hand. A small incision appeared, and a small silver knife appeared, before it could fall on the floor, Gryffin gripped it's handle. "I'm going to be sick!" Hermione anounced. "Alright, we will talk about that in a moment. Severus, I will let you deal with your three, the rest of you, excluding Gryffin and Aslin, may go." "I always hope she'll forget my name," Aslin whispered to Gryffin as everyone left. As he walked out the door, Harry gave the two girls another glance. Both stood in McGonagall's office, as if they were there everyday. "I want you two to tell me, or show me, any and all of your unexplainable powers," McGonagall said as she sat behind her desk. *** "Whew! That was a close one back there!" Ron exclaimed when they got to the safety of the Gryffindor common room. "She should have taken more points away," Harry said quietly. "What was that?" Ron asked. "Nothing," Harry said quickly. "How was Gryffin able to do that?" Hermione asked. "I dunno, but it was wicked cool!" Ron said. "I just realized! I missed Arithmancy! And you two missed Divination!" Hermione exclaimed, throughly upset at having completely missed, and forgotten, a class. "Cheer up, 'Mione, you can find out what you missed tomorrow," Ron said to her. "Yeah, and it's not like Ron and I missed a particularly good lesson," Harry told her. The portrait door opened, and the other Gryffindor's came in. "Harry, Ron, where were you two?" Lavender asked. "You missed such a good lesson!" Parvati said. Harry and Ron looked at each other and laughed. "Harry and Ron, decided to pick a fight with Draco, Crabbe and Goyle. So we were in McGonagall's office getting yelled at," Hermione said, still pouting about her missed lesson. "Are you guys okay?" Seamus asked the boys. "I think I'm a little flatter from where Crabbe sat on me," Ron said, examining himself. "Though you should have seen the bloody nose I gave Malfoy!" The other Gryffindor boys crowded around Harry and Ron, so they could hear all the details of the fight. "Boys," Hermione muttered with disgust. "Speaking of boys," Parvati said, digging in her bag and coming up with a huge picture. "This is Magick 'n' Mystery," Lavender began pointing out the band members. "This is Jon Gallagher, and this is David Cunningham. Oh! And this is Lucas Black. And these two," She said pointing to two boys in front. "Are Scott MacDougal and Jace O'Riley." "Uh huh," Was all Hermione could say before the portrait door burst open, and Gryffin and Aslin came inside. "You okay?" Hermione asked them in concern. "We're great," Gryffin practically snapped. Aslin had found the Magick 'n' Mystery poster and was staring avidly at Jace. "Aslin! Snap out of it!" Gryffin said, snapping her fingers in front of Aslin's face. "Huh? Oh, sorry," Aslin said blushing. "So what did McGonagall say to you?" Ron asked coming up to Gryffin. "To quit fighting in the hall, be good little girls, you know, the usual stuff," Gryffin lied. Aslin raised an eyebrow. "She also told us to brush our teeth and eat our vegetables." Aslin said with a serious look on her face. Gryffin burst out laughing. She turned and went upstairs to her room. She had just remembered that she wanted to let Aslin read the letter from her god-father. When Gryffin left, Aslin picked up the poster and began to stare at it again. "Do you like them?" Parvati asked her. "Yes, I like Jace alot. So much in fact he's-" Before Aslin could finish, Gryffin came down the stairs, calling for her. "What is it Gryff?" She asked. "Come here, I want you read somthing," Gryffin said innocently. "Oh alright," Aslin said with a sigh. Aslin followed Gryffin up to her room, once the door had been shut tightly, Gryffin shoved a letter in her face. "What this?" Aslin asked. "A letter from..." Gryffin dropped her voice. "Voldemort." "Oh," Aslin said, a little surprised. "He hasn't written you since...since..." She trailed off "Since his second meeting with Harry," Gryffin finished. "So, he's coming back?" Aslin asked. "I believe so. From what my dreams have been portraying...." She let the words hang in the air. "We'd better give this to McGonagall." Aslin told Gryffiin. "I know. I received it last night. Come on, let's go," Gryffin said unhappily. The two of them slipped out of the Gryffindor tower, unaware that Hermione's eyes watched their every move. ***