After he had finished his homework, Harry spent the rest of the day pondering.

Who had written that message? And most importantly, why?

He started naming his enemies.

Malfay and Company. . .

That was it. No one else in Hogwarts. Unless, by some horrifying way, Voldemort was at Hogwarts, of course.

Why?

He wrote:

1. I am an idiot.

. . . . . . . . We established that. . . .

"Curse stupid cryptic messages!", he said, ripping the 'list' in pieces.

Another owl came flying in, dropping another letter.

It was unsigned, obviously from the same sender at lunch. This time it said.

Whatever did stupid cryptic messages do to you, hmm? I'll send you a message at least once every day, for five days. You must find out who I am before the last day. Why? I like for you to guess. It's fun. And, if you do find me, you must tell me why I gave you these notes. You must have at least a clue. Did you really think this would be easy?! I laugh, Potter. If you fail, well. .  .

Here, Harry noted, many words were crossed out, but he couldn't read any of them. He continued reading,

If you fail, well. . . . . I'll be very sorry indeed.

Happy Hunting!

Anonymous Observer.

P. S.- If you have any notes for me, give it to Winky the House Elf. Tell her to give it to 'Gem'. . I'm sure you know where she is.

"Great, I've got a stalker."

~*~

Immediately, after reading the note, Harry grabbed his Firebolt from his dorm, and headed down to the Quidditch Pitch.

As he kicked off from the ground, he heard his name being called.

"Harry!"

He turned, and saw Cho Chang, his secret crush, flying up to him.

"Um, h-hi Ch-Cho."

"Hey, Harry. How'd your summer go?"

He winced. Why had she brought that up?

"Fine, I think. you?"

She smirked, something that he had only seen Malfoy do. She spoke quietly,

"I think you should stop lying to me, Harry."

Harry was startled, but if Cho noticed, she ignored it, continuing,

"Everyone tried to comfort me after . . .Cedric's. . .death, but I never wanted it. In fact, I hated it. Why? They never knew him the way I did, saying things like, 'Cedric wouldn't want you to act this way.' I understand you more than you think, Harry. You think that it was all your fault. Well, it isn't."

"Yes, it is. I let him take the cup. . ."

"Only because you thought it was fair. I don't know what happened, and I honestly don't want to. You may call me a hypocrite for this, but it wasn't your fault. I beat myself up thousands of times, before someone stopped me."

"Who was it?"

"You'll call me insane."

"No, I won't. Promise."

She sighed, before speaking, "Cedric."

"Your insane."

She laughed, a sound that startled him.

"Told you so. He came to me in a dream. He told me that I shouldn't be like that. And you know what? I told him that everyone was saying that to me. Why should I listen to him? And he told me, 'Because I love you.' "

Harry's heart plummeted to the ground. Which, considering that he was flying on his Firebolt, was a long way. He forced himself to continue,

"Then what?"

"He told me he could tell you to stop beating yourself up too. He said that your nightmares were blocking him."

So that was it! Every time he had a nightmare, something was different. Like the dream was trying to change itself. . .Cedric was trying to talk to him!

They flew alongside each other, silent, and thankful for each others company. Cho abruptly broke the silence when she said,

"Harry, I know you have a crush on me."

He froze, and so did his broom, but immediately regained control. He was silent.

"Cedric knew, but he didn't tell me. I found out for myself. The way you looked at me, when you asked me to the ball last year. . . Harry, you may have a crush, but that's all it will be. There's someone out there waiting for you. Only you."

"How do you know?!", he cried bitterly, "You know that. . .Cedric loves you!"

She grew quiet, "I never told him how much I loved him."

Silence. They headed back to the ground.

And as they parted to leave, Harry spoke,

"Cho?"

"Hmm?"

"I think he knows."

She smiled, "I hope so, Harry. I really hope so."

~*~

That night, Harry slept, finally free of the terror that bound him to last year's incident. And as he woke up the next morning, he swore he could hear a voice, whispering,

"Thank you. . ."

~*~

This chapter is dedicated to Celestine and Leap of Faith, who gave me my first review! You see, people, readers like you should post a review. But, no no no, you all got lazy, didn't you? Yes, you did.You should all be ashamed!