The large black dog ran through the forest. Harry rushed after it, trying to catch up. Just as he was sure the dog was going to outrun him, it stopped and turned to face him. Only it wasn't a dog anymore. It was a tall man with long black hair and a gaunt face. He smiled and reached out to Harry, but no matter how fast the he ran, the man never got any closer. Harry cried out to him. The man opened his mouth and said "Get up, boy!"

            Harry's eyes snapped open. He wasn't in a forest, he was in his bedroom at number four Privet Drive and the person who had awakened him was "Aunt Petunia?"

Petunia Dursley was standing over Harry's bed, fully dressed and holding the car keys. Her narrow, horsy face was illuminated by the soft glow of the street lamps shining in through the window.

Harry rolled over to glance at the digital alarm clock on his bedside table. (It was one of the few things in the room that hadn't been destroyed by his cousin) The digits read 1:00 AM.

"Get up!" Aunt Petunia repeated, now sounding slightly impatient. "Why?" asked Harry. "What's the matter?"

"I'll explain it later," his aunt snapped. "Now get up and meet me in the kitchen." She waited until Harry was completely out of bed before leaving the room.

Harry headed down the stairs, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. He went as quietly as possible, so as not to wake anyone. When he reached the kitchen, Aunt Petunia was waiting for him. She put a finger to her lips and beckoned for him to follow her. The two of them slipped out the front door and into the car. Harry, now thoroughly confused watched as his aunt put the keys in ignition and started the engine. They drove in silence for a few minutes before Harry ventured to ask where they were going. Aunt Petunia seemed to consider this before replying.

"To meet someone. A friend of yours."

"Which one?"

"That tall red haired boy."

"At one o' clock in the morning?"

She glared at him and said no more. Harry fidgeted with his wand a bit and gave a start when after about fifteen minutes Aunt Petunia said,

"What was your dream about?" Harry looked up at her, surprised. She had never asked him about his dreams before. As far as he knew, she knew nothing about him, let alone his nightmares. He hesitated. This was, after all, a very personal subject.

"It was about my godfather, Sirius," he said at last. "He kept calling to me, but I couldn't reach him." Ever since Sirius had died the previous year, these dreams had been becoming more and more frequent.

Harry glanced up at his aunt to see her reaction and for a moment he could have sworn that a malevolent glint had appeared in her eyes, but it was gone in an instant.

"He died, didn't he?" Harry merely nodded and looked out the window.

They were no longer in Little Whinging, but somewhere in the country. Harry was about to tell Aunt Petunia that this wasn't the way to Ron's house, when the car stopped. The radio clock read 1:56AM.

"All right, we're here. Get out." Harry climbed out of the front seat wondering what was going on. He heard his aunt's car door slam and he started over to her, when something abruptly hit him hard in the chest and he collapsed, every part of his body searing in pain.

Then as suddenly as the pain started, it stopped. Gasping for breath, Harry looked up and saw someone staring down at him, laughing. But it wasn't Petunia Dursley, he saw towering above him. It was someone completely different.

It had bee three months since Harry saw Bellatrix Lestrange but she still looked the same as ever.

"You haven't changed, a bit, Harry Potter," Bellatrix sneered at him. "Still so foolishly trusting."  Harry slowly began to stand up, not taking his eyes off the death eater.

"You!" he growled through clenched teeth. Hatred welled up inside him as he remembered Sirius. He wanted to attack to kill her for what she'd done, but all he could do was glare. At last he managed to spit out "Where is my aunt?"

"She's a little tied up at the moment," was the mocking reply. Harry's heart was pounding. What if Bellatrix had hurt Aunt Petunia and left her in a closet somewhere? What if she was already dead? Panic rising in his chest he began to run back towards the village.

"Where do you think you're going, Potter?" Bellatrix called after him. "Impedimenta!" Harry was blasted off his feet and before he could get back up, Bellatrix had positioned herself in front of him, her wand pointed directly at his face.

"You better not have hurt her!" he snarled. The death eater smiled in a very unpleasant way.

"If I were you boy," she said softly. "I'd worry less about that mudblood and more about myself." She raised her wand and everything went black.