Harry was in the library. He had to get away from his friends, who were trying to cheer Harry up by trying to act normally. But it just sickened him. How could they act like everything was fine, when Claire was gone? He wandered down each isle, running his fingers down the spines of books, not really looking at him. Suddenly, Harry heard voices in the next isle, and he stopped. It was Snape and Professor Weasley.

'I really miss her Annabelle,' Snape was saying.

'You know it's for the best Snape. I miss her too, but there's no other way,' Professor Weasley said soothingly.

'I know,' Snape sighed. 'It's just so hard going to see her, watching her from afar, not being able to even speak to her...'

'Why didn't you ask Dumbledore to put it into her mind that you were...a friend of the family or something? At least then you could have spoken to her,' Professor Weasley asked.

'He says seeing me might set off a trigger of memories in her mind...'

Harry suddenly couldn't stand it any more, and he snapped.

'Where is she Snape?' he asked, rushing round into the next isle.

'Harry!' Professor Weasley said in surprise.

'What have you done with her?' Harry demanded.

'Potter, I don't think that's any of you concern,' Snape hissed.

'I know you can't handle it Snape, but I care about Claire too. At least tell why she's gone, you own me this much,' Harry said angrily.

'Harry, please calm down, you're causing a scene,' Professor Weasley said, trying to diffuse the situation. 'Snape, a least talk to the boy. Take him down to your office. It isn't fair on him.'

Snape nodded, but he didn't look happy. 'Come Potter. Annabelle, I'll see you later.'

'Goodbye Severus.'

Snape swept from the library, and Harry followed him in smoldering silence. When they got down the dungeons, Snape took Harry into the little room that was office, and motioned for Harry to sit down. Harry did so, and Snape sat down opposite him.

'Claire has been moved for her own safety,' Snape told Harry. 'She...'

'Moved where?' Harry asked.

'That information I cannot disclose,' Snape told him.

'Why not?' Harry asked.

'Because silly little boys like you will only think of yourselves and go out there and try and drag Claire back here, regardless of the dangers it could put her in,' Snape snapped.

'I would never do anything to hurt her,' Harry said indignantly.

'Be that as it may, I am afraid I cannot tell you where she is,' Snape said.

'When is she coming back?' Harry asked.

'That doesn't look likely,' Snape said, lowering his eyes.

'Never?' Harry asked, his voice cracking.

Snape said nothing.

'I didn't even get to say goodbye...' Harry said in disbelief.

'You're not the only one this is hard on,' Snape said. 'Claire's my niece but I think of her as a daughter. I would rather she was here where I could look after her, but it's not safe. It's better this way. We just have to accept it.'

'Why is she in so much danger? Why isn't she safe? Is it to do with me,' Harry asked.

'It's complicated...' Snape muttered.

'Well, can I at least write her a letter? Would you give it to her for me?'

Snape shook his head. 'I'm afraid that's not possible.'

'Why?' Harry asked indignantly. 'Do you hate me that much?'

'You're not the only the one who's not allowed to contact Claire!' Snape exploded. 'Get out of here Potter, I've said too much already.' Snape swiveled his chair around so he had his back to Harry, and Harry had no choice but to leave. His hands were shaking as he walked back up to the Gryffindor Tower. He was never going to see Claire again.

Rinoa awoke on Christmas morning, as happy as she had when she was little. The last few days had gone by as if in a dream. It was a blur of her and Tidus kissing and holding hands, messing around in the snow and going to the cinema. He had given her a beautiful necklace for Christmas.

Rinoa spent Christmas day with her family, opening presents and eating wonderful food. But when she went to bed that night, she couldn't get to sleep straight away. She had the strangest feeling that she had missed something, that there was somebody she usually saw at Christmas, but she hadn't seen them. And yet she couldn't think who it was. This bothered her for some time, until she finally fell asleep.

Harry awoke on Christmas morning, and closed his eyes. He had just been having the most wonderful dream. He and Claire were lying together in the snow, and although they were wearing no clothes, they were comfortably warm. The snow was almost like a bed, like they were being cushioned with a soft quilt. They lay together, kissing and holding each other. Waking up was cruel for Harry. He wanted to drift back into sleep, the only place he could be with Claire. But the pain stung Harry's heart, and woke him fully. He didn't want to get up and celebrate when she was gone. It was like she was dead, but in a way, it was worse, because he knew that she was still out there somewhere, but Harry couldn't see her. Most of all he wished he could speak to her one last time tell her how he really felt. He wished he had known how she felt about him, he had never been truly sure. Harry was considering lying in bed all day, but Ron woke him up, and dragged him out of bed. For Harry it was the slowest Christmas ever.

Rinoa and Tidus were sitting up in Tidus's room, playing Soul Calibur 2.Rinoa was winning. She was playing as Xianghua and Tidus was playing as Kilik.

'Fuck fuck fuck!' Tidus winced as Rinoa pulled yet another brilliant move. K.O! Flashed up on the screen, and Tidus dropped his controller in frustration.

'I think you need more practice before you play me again,' Rinoa grinned.

'Oh yeah? Well I know there's one thing I wouldn't mind practicing a bit more...' he grinned, and pushed Rinoa back onto the bed. He tickled her a little bit, then lent down and started kissing her. But Tidus was sitting right beside Rinoa's horizontal thigh, and as they kissed, she felt something hardening up against it. Tidus rubbed it a little against her leg, and groaned into her mouth.

'God Rinoa, I'm sorry,' he said, pulling away. 'You have no idea how much I want you. I know it's too soon for...y'know...but do you think you could just give me something?'

'Like?' Rinoa asked, sitting up.

'Like...' Tidus took Rinoa's hand, and unzipping his trousers, he pulled her hand down into his boxers.

Rinoa smiled. 'I guess you deserve it.'

Tidus smiled back at her. Rinoa was a little nervous, she had never wanted to do this before, but she wanted to please Tidus, and she didn't want him to get bored of her. So she pulled down his jeans and then his boxers. Tidus sighed as she released his cock. And he sighed even louder as Rinoa hesitantly wrapped her fingers around it.

'Yeah baby, that's it,' Tidus murmured.

Rinoa pulled her hand too the end, and then ran it back down to the bottom.

'It's that okay?' she asked.

'That's great,' Tidus encouraged.

Rinoa continued it like this, and Tidus closed his eyes and smiled. But after a while, Rinoa felt Tidus moving his hips so it pumped in and out of her hand quicker and quicker, and he began to murmur,

'Faster!'

So Rinoa started running her hand up and down faster and faster, until her wrist was beginning to hurt, but Tidus was starting to moan with pleasure.

'Oh yeah, Rinoa, that's great,' he told her. 'Keep going baby...'

Suddenly Tidus opened his eyes and exclaimed,

'Oh yes!' And from the end of his dick erupted a fountain of cum. Some of it hit Rinoa's skirt.

'Oh, I'm so sorry Rinoa,' Tidus said, now a bit embarrassed. He pulled on his trousers, grabbed a tissue and wiped it up. Rinoa grabbed his hand, and looked into his eyes, and smiled. 'It's okay.'

Tidus smiled back at her, and then kissed her.

'Are you sure? I mean you didn't mind...' Tidus asked when the kiss had ended.

'Course not,' Rinoa said.

'Good. 'Coz you were great. I mean really great,' Tidus grinned.

'Good,' Rinoa smiled. Then he kissed her again.

Rinoa was happy and content. Though she hadn't had the easiest of lives, since living with Lulu, Wakka and Vincent, she had had a happy life. But being with Tidus made her even happier, it gave her a new, exciting aspect to her life that she hadn't had before. Of course, she had had boyfriends before, but she'd never had such a connection, or such an attraction, as with Tidus. But it wasn't to last. It happened when they went to the cinema to watch Troy. Now the whole gang was coupled up they went to the cinema very often, just as an excuse to get off with each other. Before they had thought it rude, because as Tidus and Rinoa was single it was a bit rude to sit there making out right next to them, but they didn't want to not invite them either. But going to the cinema and then out for something to eat at a fast-food restaurant afterwards had become one of the gang's favorite pastimes of the holidays.

Rinoa and Tidus sat with their arms around each other. A little way into the film, Tidus begun to stroke Rinoa's hair, to show he was concentrating more on her than the film. Rinoa put her head on his shoulder, and he kissed her on the top of the head. Then Rinoa lifted her head and looked up at Tidus's shadowed face, and he lent in and kissed her. It was a softer kiss than Rinoa was used to, and suddenly something flashed before her eyes. It was a face she had seen before, the first time she had kissed Tidus, but much clearer this time. He was good-looking and had brown hair and glasses. And it was him that was kissing her, not Tidus.

'Baby? Are you okay?' Tidus whispered with concern. 'Have I done something?'

'No, it's not you I just...I just...need to go to the loo,' Rinoa excused herself. It was awkward trying to get past everyone while they were trying to watch the film, but Rinoa needed to get away. When she got into the brightly-lit ladies, she looked at her pale face in the mirror. Her expression was scared and confused. What was wrong with her? Why did she keep seeing someone else when she kissed Tidus? She was sure she'd never met this boy before, and yet, he seemed familiar, like she had met him in some forgotten dream. Perhaps she was reading far too much into this. And yet for some reason it really bothered her. She splashed some cold water on her face and tried to pull herself together. She didn't want to risk losing Tidus over this, but if it kept happening he might start to think that there was something wrong with her, that she didn't like kissing him.

Suddenly the door opened, and in walked Paine.

'Hey Rinoa, are you okay?' her friend asked. 'It's the interval, I thought I'd come and see why you're being so long.'

'I just wasn't feeling too well,' Rinoa smiled. 'Too much popcorn.'

'You okay now?' Paine asked.

'Yeah,' Rinoa nodded.

'Well let's go back before the film starts again. You missed a really fit bit of Colin Farrell. Honestly I wish Vincent looked like him...'

Rinoa tried to forget about the boy she had seen, but she couldn't get him out of her mind. She was glad to fall asleep that night. But little did she know that this boy would carry on haunting her in her dreams. At first, Rinoa was having a wonderful dream. She was in her school hall, surrounded by all her friends, and dancing with Tidus. It had to be some kind of formal occasion, because they were all wearing long robes of some kind. Tidus and Rinoa looked into one another's eyes and smiled, and then Tidus lent in to kiss her. But when he pulled away, everything had changed. Rinoa was not in her school hall, but a much larger, grander hall that seemed to stretch on forever into the sky. She was surrounded not by her friends, but strangers, who all in some way seemed familiar. And Rinoa was dancing, not with Tidus, but the boy whom she had seen that day in the cinema. He smiled at her, so tenderly and lovingly, as if he knew her better than anyone, which frustrated Rinoa because she didn't have a clue who he was.

'I never got a chance to tell you how much I love you,' he said.

'Who are you?' Rinoa asked.

But suddenly the boy was pulled away by a tall, dark haired man. He looked at Rinoa and said,

'I miss you Claire.'

Rinoa looked around, and suddenly, she felt afraid. He felt she had been pulled into another world, and she didn't know if she could get back. She started to scream, and carried on screaming until she woke up.

Harry was having a wonderful dream. It was the Halloween Ball, and he and Claire were dancing. They gazed into one another's eyes, smiling at each other. All their friends surrounded them. And gently, Harry lent in and kissed her. The kiss itself felt like a creation of magic, their lips touching, and it feeling so real, despite the fact they were so far apart. And then everything changed. When Harry pulled away, he told her,

'I never got a chance to tell you how much I love you,' but she looked back at him, not with the same love, but fear in her eyes.

'Who are you?' she asked, as if she didn't even recognize Harry. Those words broke his heart.

Suddenly, he felt two hands on his shoulders, pulling him away from Claire. It was Snape, and he pushed Harry to one side.

'I miss you Claire,' he said, with such feeling Harry couldn't have believed from this man, and yet his words didn't even touch Claire. Instead, she started to scream, and those screams filled Harry's head until he awoke, his scar on fire, and the screams rang on.

Rinoa opened her eyes, and Lulu sat over her.

'Are you okay?' her foster mother asked with concern.

'I had such a terrifying dream,' Rinoa whimpered. 'I was in this place...and I was dancing, with strangers...they were all wearing strange clothes...' But as Rinoa spoke, as always seemed to happen with her dreams, they slipped from her mind like water down a plug-hole.

'I'm sure it was just a bad dream,' Lulu said, although to Rinoa, she didn't sound all that sure. 'Go back to sleep love, everything's okay. Dreams can't hurt you, and you must remember that's all they are, just dreams. Now goodnight.'

'Goodnight Lulu,' Rinoa said, settling back down under her quilt, although she found it quite difficult to get back to sleep after that.

The next day, Rinoa went into town with Tidus, Rikku, Vincent, Paine and Selphie to spend some of their Christmas money. At lunchtime they went to McDonalds, and when they came out, they decided to go to River Island, so the boys could look upstairs and the girls could look down. What they boys didn't know was that the girls had an ulterior motive for going to River Island, Fit River Island Guy (F.R.I.G). They were walking down to road towards the clothes shop, when they walked past a tall, dark haired man. As he walked past, he looked at Rinoa, right into her eyes. And suddenly she remembered her dream from last night, and she knew that this was the man who had called her Claire.

Rinoa grabbed her head in her hands, and collapsed to the floor.

'Rinoa! Are you okay!' Tidis exclaimed, and her friends all rushed to her side. At that one moment, when Rinoa remembered her dream, and this man saying,

'I miss you Claire,' a million other images flashed into her head. It was like her life was flashing before her eyes, but it wasn't the life she remembered it was another life, one she had forgotten and yet somehow she had been a part of. Her real mother, her Uncle Snape, her school in America, her first wand, Annabelle, Quidditch, seeing Hogwarts for the first time, going to Hogsmeade, thinking she was in love with Draco Malfoy, the Halloween Ball, getting drunk, her birthday, and Harry...Harry...and what she and Harry had done...All this information flooding into her brain was all too much for Rinoa, and everything suddenly went blank.

When she awoke, Rinoa was in her bed. Lulu was sitting beside her.

'Where...where's everyone else?' Rinoa asked.

'I sent them home,' Lulu told her. 'Tidus, particularly, wanted to stay, but you were saying things in your sleep and I thought it best...well I thought it best if I was the only one here when you woke up.'

Rinoa shook her head. Everything seemed blurred and distorted.

'What happened Rinoa?' Lulu asked.

'I...I...we were just going to River Island,' Rinoa explained. 'When we walked past a man. And do you remember I had that bad dream last night, well, somehow I recognized him from that dream. And when his eyes met mine, suddenly I remembered all this stuff...'

'What stuff, honey?' Lulu urged.

'That I'd lived a whole different life. And I thought it just seemed crazy, that I was just remembering all my forgotten dreams, because this life...the world I had come from...was a world of magic. But somehow, I know it is real, isn't it? I'm not crazy.'

'No, you're not,' Lulu lowered her eyes. 'I've been dreading this day, and though they assured me it would never come, I somehow knew it would. I just didn't think it would be so soon.'

'Who am I Lulu? Am I Rinoa...or am I Claire?'

'To me, you are Rinoa. To all of us. We have memories of you coming here...growing up...going to school...all the same memories that you have. But those memories aren't real. Wakka and I are the only ones who know the truth. Rinoa has never existed...you are Claire.'

Claire gasped. She closed her eyes, and everything suddenly fitted into place. The life she remembered as Rinoa slowly melted away, until she realized that only the past few weeks she had been living as this other person were real.

'I remember it all now,' Claire told her. 'They said they had to take me away...for my own safety. I didn't really understand what was going on.' She looked up at Lulu. 'You know I have to go back, don't you?'

Lulu nodded. 'I knew that when this day came, I couldn't keep you from who you really are. All I could do was protect you while I could.'

'Thank you,' Claire said. 'For looking after me. Though I've only really been here for a matter of weeks, you've been more like a mother to me than my real mother ever was.'

'And you've been the daughter I never had Rinoa, and it's going to be the hardest thing I've ever done, letting you go. But I know that you need to be where you belong. So whatever you need, I'll help you,' Lulu said, tears in her eyes.

'Thank you,' Claire said, hugging her foster mother, knowing she would probably never see her again.

When Lulu got out Claire's things, it made it all real for her. Lulu opened her trunk and handed her her wand. Claire fingered the soft, springy wood, and felt a surge of power through her that was her magic that she hadn't used for weeks.

'Oh my gosh,' she gasped. Now she remembered everything, she was herself again.

'I need to talk to the others,' she said.

Lulu nodded.

When lessons started again, Harry was glad that he had at least got something to take his mind off Claire. It was strange not being in lessons with her. It was like she had brought a little bit of sparkle and happiness into his life, but now it was back to the same old drudgery. One thing that was strange was Snape's lessons. He seemed to be feeling similar to Harry, and was far less strict than usual. It didn't seem like his heart was in his lessons any more. The days went by so slowly, that the only thing that kept Harry going was the thought that maybe one day he would be happy again. He didn't realize how soon that day was going to come.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting in the Great Hall, eating their dinner. Hermione was ranting about how she hadn't been given enough Arithmacy homework lately, and Harry was playing with his food. Recently he had been finding eating more of a chore. He had learnt to drown out the chattering and laughter around him, and get lost in his own world of thought. He looked up at Snape's empty chair. Harry never saw Snape out of the dungeon now.

Suddenly there was a loud bang and the main doors banged open. A gust of cold air blew in. Silence fell over the Great Hall, and everyone looked over towards the doors. There in the doorway, stood Claire.

For a moment, everyone just stared. Harry couldn't believe his eyes. He had thought he would never see her again. Harry got to his feet, and ran over to her.

'Claire!?' he said softly, scarcely able to believe it.

'Harry,' Claire smiled. He threw his arms around her, and he hugged her tight.

'I've missed you so much,' Harry said emotionally

'I've missed you too,' Claire whispered.

'Claire!' Behind them stood Dumbledore. She looked up at him. 'Could you come with me please?' He looked serious.

Claire gave Harry a worried look, and then followed Dumbledore from the room. Harry walked back over to his seat, and the whole hall burst into chatter.

'I can't believe she's back!' Hermione said happily.

'I know, I wonder where she went for all this time?' Ron said.

Harry's mind was buzzing. Claire was back! He could scarcely believe it. He had resigned himself to a life of loneliness, and in a matter of minutes everything had changed. But what had happened? Why had Dumbledore taken her away, and why did he look so serious? Harry felt a mix of whirlwind emotions. He felt a little worried, but it was overwhelmed with happiness. He longed to go and find her and kiss her, and he couldn't wait to see her again.