Disclaimer: Once again I own nothing... not the characters just the plot...so wutever...

CHAPTER 8

Ginny woke up that morning finding herself not in her bed, but in Sirius' old bedroom. She wondered why she was there, but then last night came flooding back to her. She remembered Harry crying and her crying on his shoulder. She realized they must have fallen asleep together and she blushed at the thought. She rolled over expecting to see Harry lying there, but no one was there. She could still see where he had laid. She figured Harry had already gone back to his room with Ron. 'I better get back too,' she thought. She didn't want anyone getting the wrong impression. After getting out of bed she went down the hallway to the room that she shared with Hermoine. When she went in the door, Hermoine was not there and Ginny briefly wondered where she was, but then she came out of the bathroom.

"Morning 'Moine," said Ginny happily.

"Hey Gin," said Hermoine yawning. She looked exhausted and it was all Ginny could do not to laugh.

"Late night? You look a little sleepy. Were you and Ron up to something all night?" asked Ginny with a sly smile. She loved teasing Hermoine about her brother, it was just so much fun!

"Ginny!" said Hermoine incredulously.

"I was just joking Hermoine," said Ginny laughing.

"I know," said Hermoine with a sigh. "By the way, where were you last night? I woke up in the middle of the night and you weren't there and you didn't come back until just now." Ginny started to blush slightly but forced it down.

"I needed to think, so I went somewhere else to be alone for a while." Hermoine seemed satisfied with that answer and got ready. Ginny went into the bathroom and when she came out Hermoine was going out the door behind Ron. Ginny just figured they were going to snog, so she didn't stop them. She grabbed some clothes and got in the shower. As she was getting ready for the day, her mind wandered back to last night. She blushed again at the thought of sleeping next to Harry. Even though it was completely innocent. She thought of what they had talked about. She couldn't deny that they had become very close friends and she thought back to the dream where they were obviously more than friends. She was so confused about her feelings toward Harry. It seemed like he was interested in being her friend and he was nice and funny to talk to, but Ginny didn't want to ruin that friendship for a relationship. Plus, she didn't even know if Harry was the least bit interested in her in that way. Then there was the prophecy, saying that she was going to help with compassion through love. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Did it mean love like friends... or LOVE? Giving a frustrated sigh Ginny walked out the door and headed to breakfast.

When she got down to breakfast Ginny noticed that Harry looked happier than usual and then remembered why.

"Happy Birthday Harry," said Ginny going over and giving him a hug.

"Thanks Gin," said Harry, and then he added quietly, "How about we wait until this afternoon to have our discussion time and stuff, I want to spend some time with Ron and Hermoine."

"That's fine," said Ginny with a smile. Just as they went to sit down Remus, Tonks, Mrs. Figg, and the older Weasley brothers came in through the door, each giving Harry a happy birthday. They ate their breakfast, all chatting about something or another. Ron and Hermoine were asking Harry and Ginny all kinds of questions, until Harry finally told them to shut up because it would be easier to explain later. Soon when all of the plates were cleared, they headed upstairs.

"Now Harry, you have to tell us everything that you didn't tell us this morning," said Ron, sounding excited.

"Ron I think I have pretty well told you every detail that I know between our discussion this morning and your questions at breakfast." Said Harry, sounding a little agitated.

"So what are you going to do until Dumbledore figures out who this person is?" asked Hermoine.

" We are going to spend time together talking and we are going to, unfortunately, take lessons with Snape, which start tomorrow," Harry replied.

"Poor things," muttered Ron, "Have to spend time with that greasy git before school even starts." Everyone laughed at this.

The four of them sat up in their room talking about this and that until Mrs. Weasley called them down for lunch. When they got down their Mrs. Weasley had a large cake with the words 'Happy 16th Birthday Harry' written on it, along with sixteen candles.

Harry was overwhelmed with emotion at what they had all done for him. He saw a large pile of presents at the other end of the table and thought he had never felt any happier in his life.

They all gathered around the table and began to sing happy birthday to him.

"Come on mate make a wish and blow the candles out," said Ron happily. Harry smiled and made a wish he knew would never come true and blew out his birthday candles.

After opening his presents and feeling happier than he had in months, Harry thanked everyone for the umpteenth time as they left and then he went upstairs to Sirius room. He sat there thinking about how luck he was when, a few minutes later, he heard someone come in.

"Hey, can I come in?" Ginny asked.

"Sure," said Harry smiling.

"So how are you today Mr. Potter?" asked Ginny with a smile.

"Better than I have been in a while," said Harry truthfully.

"Well that's good to hear," said Ginny. "So what do we need to do about what Dumbledore told us to do?"

"Well it's kind of weird trying to talk when you know you have to, so why don't we try to find the connection within ourselves?" Harry answered.

"And how do we do that?" asked Ginny.

"I'm not sure but I have an idea," said Harry. "Come Here." She went and sat across from him on the bed like he motioned for her to. He took her hands in his and closed his eyes.

"This is kind of like Occlumency, I guess," said Harry, "just clear your mind and think about me, or finding your connection with me, and I will think about you and finding the connection within you."

"Okay," said Ginny holding on to his hands and closing her eyes. She thought about Harry, and how close they had become, and how much he needed all the help he could get so that he would be confident he could defeat Voldemort.

Harry was thinking along the same lines. How much Ginny had changed, how much he needed her and whoever else was in this prophecy, along with all of his friends. They sat there trying to concentrate and sat like that foe a few minutes until Ginny finally got aggravated and spoke.

"I don't feel anything," she said.

"Me either," said Harry frowning. "Maybe we should just give it some time."

"Okay," said Ginny. "So what now?"

"Lets just wait until tomorrow, I have a feeling lessons with Snape will take a lot out of us, but it might help."

"Okay," said Ginny letting go of his hands, which she had never let go of, and leaving.

Harry lay there in his bed later that night, wondering why nothing had worked when he and Ginny had tried to find the connection. He knew that it would take longer and more concentration, but he was a very impatient person. He had been thinking about this since Ginny had left and he soon fell asleep.

Harry felt like he was flying, he felt so free, like he had no worries at all. All of a sudden the sensation of flying was replaced by a falling sensation, and Harry found himself somewhere in a forest, which he soon recognized as the forbidden forest. He walked through some trees and came upon another familiar sight, one he really didn't want to see. There were deatheater everywhere, and they were all watching something going on in front of them. Harry knew what it was. All of a sudden everything froze, like it had when he left his last nightmare, and he was up in the front of all of the deatheaters. It was exactly like he had left the last nightmare. Ginny was lying on the ground, still in pain, and he was standing there, wand out, ready to duel Voldemort. Then Voldemort spoke.

"How nice of you two to join us again, why don't you just sit and watch what fate has in store for you." Said Voldemort evilly. "And don't even try to stop anything, because you don't exsist here, you are just in dream form."

Harry looked over next to him and realized Ginny was there as well, just like last time. He suddenly heard shouting and laughing and realized that Voldemort had taken off the freezing spell. Then Voldemort was speaking to him. (The Harry that was actually real and dueling Voldemort).

"Now, Where were we Potter?" Asked Voldemort, "Oh yes, I think we were right HERE," said Voldemort shouting a spell, trying to catch Harry off guard, but Harry was to fast and he moved out of the way. They exchanged a few more spells like this, either dodging or deflecting them until suddenly Voldemort turned and pointed his wand at Ginny again, who had tried to get up, only to be held down by Lucius Malfoy. 'CRUCIO' he shouted and Ginny was on the ground shaking again.

"Now For you Potter," said Voldemort pointing his wand at Harry. " Crucio." Harry felt like a thousand knives were shooting through him. It was a horrible sight to see. "Now to finish you off."

"No!" one of the hooded figures shouted.

And then Harry woke up, he was sweaty and he felt like he could vomit. Then one thought had him racing out of bed and into the room across the hall. Ginny. She was sitting up in her bed and she was breathing heavily. He went over to her and took her into a hug.

"Harry I cant take much more of that... it's so horrible," said Ginny, on the verge of tears. Harry put a finger up to her lips and whispered.

"Lets go to Sirius room," he said motioning to Hermione, not wanting to wake her up. They got up and quietly went down the hall into Sirius room. They were silent for a minute until Ginny spoke.

"That's so horrible, seeing you and me in pain like that," said Ginny, tears now flowing freely. "Is that really going to happen? Will that person be able to stop Voldemort?"

Harry had her in his arms again and he was whispering to her, "Gin, that was him, that was the third person, but I couldn't see his face, could you?" she shook her head.

"Right now lets get some sleep, and then we can call Dumbledore and talk about it," said Harry heading for the door. Just as his hand touched the knob he felt a hand on his arm. He turned around to a slightly blushing Ginny.

"Harry, stay please, I don't really want to be alone if I have another nightmare, it scares me so," said Ginny softly. Harry looked at her, she looked so little and vulnerable. He decided it would not hurt to stay with her innocently for one night. He went over to the bed and climbed in next to her. At first it was a little odd, since they wee under the covers, but soon Ginny got a little closer and snuggled into his chest and he cautiously put his arm around her waist and both fell into a peaceful slumber.

A/N: Once again sorry it took so long to update. REVIEW!! PLEEZ!!! Thanks to all that have reviewed already u guys r awesome! NOTE this may be my last update for a few more weeks. School has started... which means homework...ugh... and I made the volleyball team (YAY for me) and I have either practice or a game almost every weekday..., which leaves not a lot of time to write. I hope I can keep my writing quality and update at least every few weeks... sorry in advance for taking so long... I will try not to leave toooo many cliffhangers. If u have any suggestions just let me know! Im not sure where EXACTLY I am going from here, but I have an idea. This chapter was full of hints... Even though it is really short... okay since I have bored u with excuses and stuff now I will give a shout out to my reviewers and then c yaw l8er.

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