Chapter 9: Paying A Visit To Some Old Friends

Harry walked into his Defense Against the Dark Arts class only to find Hermione poring over a book as usual. He laughed to himself and sat down beside her.

"Look at this!" Hermione exclaimed, her nose three inches away from the book.

"What?" Harry said excitedly as moved his chair closer to hers.

"This vampire in human form is almost a carbon copy of Snape!" she said pointing at a picture. She was right. His hair was long and matted, with dark eyes shining out of his deep set sockets. Harry looked over at Hermione and realized that she was thinking the same thing as he: they wished they could tell Ron. Every year, they had solved something together, the three of them, but this year it just wasn't as fun without him.

When class was over, Hermione rushed off down another hall way. "Probably meeting Draco," Harry thought to himself. During lunch, the owl post arrived. Hedwig swooped down onto Harry's shoulder, giving him an affectionate nip on the ear. Harry's heart skipped a beat as he realized that the letter was from Sirius.

Dear Harry,

Go to Dumbledore straight away.

Sirius

His heart sunk as he read the one sentence letter. "Why?" He thought to himself. He would go during his next break, though he didn't not want to at all.

"Frizzing Whizzbies," Harry muttered when he reached the stone gargoyle. It sprung aside, revealing the staircase with the large statue of the griffin. As he ascended the stairs, he began to wonder if Dumbledore had bad news, and as Harry stepped into his office he hoped for the best. The circular office was one of the most fascinating things. Harry saw familiar things, such as Fawkes, the sorting hat, and Gryffindor's sword, and the Pensive, and there was always something new to look at. The Pensive was right out on Dumbledore's desk, and Harry didn't dare touch it, he did not want to see into Dumbledore's memory right now, because he would probably be taking out some of the more gruesome things that happened during Voldemorts first rein.

"Harry," Dumbledore said softly. "I was expecting you. Please sit down." He said with an anxious look in his eyes.

"Er, Sirius told me to come see you," Harry muttered.

"Yes, I know. Sirius told me all about your dream and the pain from your scar. He thought I should tell you, but I do not think this is the right time for it. I want you to have the rest of the year as peaceful as possible, because once I tell you this, you will never be able to be happy again..." He cut off staring off into space. Harry could have sworn that he saw tears glistening at the edge of his light blue eyes.

"You may go, Harry, and promise me, forget this meeting we had until I call you into my office again. Please, notify me if you have anymore dreams or if you have the slightest pain in your scar."

Harry got up silently and left. He felt empty inside. What was this horrible news? Was he going to die? He slowly walked back to the Gryffindor room, like a person without a soul. He proceeded up the stairs to the dormitory and laid down on his bed. Dumbledore's words kept repeating itself in his head. He was dying to know what was going to happen to him, and why Dumbledore couldn't tell him now. "Could it really be that bad?" Harry thought. "I mean, what could be worse than your parents dying before you even knew them. I already know Voldemort is out to get me, but I have already fought him many times before, and I have been trained to the maximum." These thoughts ran through his head for many hours until he finally fell asleep.

That night, he had another dream along the same lines as the one before. This time, he was only in the dark place. There were cold winds, and he heard a high cackle. There were faint outlines of
people moving around in the darkness but he couldn't make out who they were. He then felt as if his head was ripping open, or as if someone hit him on the forehead with a sledgehammer.

Harry jumped out of bed, breaking in a cold sweat. He immediately grabbed a piece of parchment and scribbled a note to Dumbledore. After all, things were getting serious with Voldemort in his second period of great power, and everyone knew that Dumbledore was the only one he was afraid of. Harry then wondered what he should do. "Lupin," He thought to himself. After all, the Order of the Phoenix were all out to help defeat Voldemort, and of course they wanted to keep Harry alive. Harry ran down to Lupin's quarters, and surprisingly, found him awake, pacing around his study.

"Professor, I had the most terrible dream," Harry said very anxiously.

"Sit down Harry. Here, have some of this." Lupin conjured up a pot of tea and gave some to Harry. He took a sip and it made him feel much more relaxed. Harry explained the two dreams that he had had, and the strange meeting with Dumbledore. Lupin had a distant worried look in his eyes, and when Harry told him about what Dumbledore said, he reached out and touched his shoulder, almost in a fatherly way. Realizing this, Lupin drew back, but Harry didn't mind, for Lupin and Sirius were the two closest people he had ever had to a father.

"Harry, Dumbledore is right. You are not ready to hear it yet. All I can tell you is to live out the rest of the year as best as possible. Have fun, do well on your NEWTs, and do not think about what he said. When you are ready, you will have to make the hardest decision of your life, and do not let anyone tell you what to do. I'm sorry." He said as a tear slowly streamed down his cheek. He tried to hide it but Harry saw, but didn't say anything.

Harry then said his goodbyes to Lupin and went back up to the common room. He couldn't go back to sleep so he stayed up the rest of the night and tried to figure out just what it was that he couldn't know. He finally fell asleep on the common room floor and was later awoken in the morning by none other then, Ginny.