Chapter Four

"Harry! Harry!" a voice called into his dreams. "Oh, Harry wake up! Please! Wake up!"

He opened his eyes; a fuzzy, flesh colored blob with a fiery red blob on top was standing next to his bed. He fumbled for his glasses and hurriedly put them on.

"Ron?" Harry asked groggily. What's the matter?"

"It's Nicole." Harry sat straight up.

"What? What about her?"

"I don't know but she's outside the portrait hole." Harry got out of bed and put on his dressing gown, threw open the door and raced down the stairs. Hermione was standing in the portrait hole; Nicole was just out side.

"She won't come in," Hermione said as Harry ran past her and to Nicole's side.

"What's wrong?" he asked her. She didn't answer, just threw her arms around him and burst into tears. Harry held her close, not saying anything, just holding her and letting her cry.

Hermione and Ron went back into the common room and closed the portrait. The Fat Lady looked at Harry and Nicole with a concerned frown on her face.

"Tell me," Harry whispered. "Tell me what's wrong."

"He was there," she cried. "I saw him. He was looking at me with those red eyes." She shuddered and buried her face in his chest.

"Voldemort?" Harry asked. The Fat Lady shrieked.

"Him? Here?" she demanded.

"No," Harry told her. "It was just a dream." But Nicole looked up at him so sharply that he knew it wasn't. "Let's go talk to Dumbledore," he whispered.

Nicole clung to Harry the whole way there, still terrified that Voldemort might jump out at her from the shadows. There was nobody else in the hallways and Harry realized it must be very early in the morning, but it was also the start of the holidays, shouldn't people be boarding the Hogwarts Express? And what were Ron and Hermione doing up so late?

When they reached the stone guardian of Dumbledore's office, Harry muttered, "Sugar Quills" and they were let inside. Nicole hardly seemed to know where they were. She had her face buried in Harry's dressing gown and her hands were clutching his chest in a painful way; but he didn't seem to notice any of this. He was too busy trying to navigate her up the moving spiral staircase with his arm around her waist.

"Dumbledore," Harry called out when they reached the door. He opened it and found the headmaster at his desk. He stood with a worried frown on his face.

"What's wrong, Harry?" he asked crossing to them. He tried to unlatch Nicole from Harry's side but she shook her head and clutched him even harder.

"She said she saw Voldemort, Professor," Harry told the headmaster.

"Tom?" Dumbledore asked. "Where?"

"In her room, I think," Harry replied as he moved to a chair and tried to push Nicole into it, but she wouldn't let go. "She came to the portrait and somehow got Ron and Hermione's attention and the came and got me. But I couldn't get anything out of her. She's been like this."

Nicole gave out a sob and Harry held her close, trying to sooth her. Dumbledore conjured a bed in a corner of his office and helped Harry lay her down on it. Harry sat in a chair next to the cot as the headmaster put his hand on her forehead and she was able to calm down, although she still clung to Harry's arm.

"I've never seen her like this," Harry whispered as he put a hand on her face and moved hair away from her eyes. She closed them and started to breathe normally again. He looked up at Dumbledore.

"Stay here with her, Harry. I need to go alert the teachers and search the castle." He turned to leave. "I don't know if Tom's still here but he will not be here for long." Dumbledore swept from the room, his eyes flashing.

Fawkes, the headmaster's beautifully plumed Phoenix, flew to Harry, landing on his knee. He looked at Nicole and his piercing song filled the room, slipping into every worried crevasse if Harry's body and making him feel instantly better.

Nicole's eyes flew open and she sat up, startling Fawkes from his perch.

"I need to talk to my parents," she cried, looking at Harry.

"Nicole," Harry said. "What's going on?" She didn't answer, just got up from the bed and ran to the door. Harry jumped up and followed her. Before she could start down the stairs, he grabbed her arm.

"Let go, Harry," she said.

"No," he told her. "Dumbledore said to stay here. Voldemort might still be in the castle."

"But I have to go to London," she said. "I have to talk to my parents."

"Nicole, how could you talk to them?"

"The Veil, Harry."

"What?"

"Harry, listen to me. That veil is the door between our world and the otherworld: the world of the dead. If I can get there, I can call to them, it's an old spell my sister taught me."

"Wait," Harry interrupted. "Why do you need to talk to them?"

"They know Voldemort," she said. "They know how to damage him."

"Not defeat?"

"Only you can do that."

"How?"

"I don't know." She came back into the room and began to pace. "When does the train leave?" she asked.

"At eleven," Professor Dumbledore said from the doorway. "Do you really believe that your parents can help?"

"Yes, professor," Nicole answered. "I do."

"Then I'll have Tonks and Lupin meet you at King's Cross."

Harry looked at Dumbledore, his eyes wide. "You're letting her go?" he asked.

"Voldemort is no longer here. I believe that he was trying to keep Miss Fleming from talking to her parents."

"Then he knows," Nicole whispered.

"He suspects," Dumbledore corrected. "Now, you two should eat and pack some clothing. I believe there will be Christmas at Grimmauld Place again this year."

"Wait," Harry said as he followed Nicole to the door. "I'm going too?"

"You and Nicole are tied together in this, Harry," Dumbledore told him. "You will be pulling each other over the finish line this time."

Harry only had time for a hurried explanation to Ron and Hermione before he had to catch a carriage to Hogsmead station.

"I want to go to Grimmauld Place for Christmas," Ron complained.

"I think you are," Harry said closing his trunk. "Dumbledore said something about there being Christmas there again this year."

"It won't be the same without Sirius," Hermione said. Then she clapped her hands over her mouth. "I'm sorry, Harry."

"No, it's okay," Harry told her. "Really. It doesn't hurt as much to think about him as it used to."

"How come?" Ron asked.

"I've found someone else to love." And with that, he magiked his trunk to follow him and left.

Harry and Nicole shared a compartment together on the way to London. They didn't say anything; they didn't need to. Both were perfectly content to sit next to each other, Harry's arms around her shoulders. Eventually, Nicole fell asleep and Harry was left to his thoughts.

"I don't know what I'd do without you," he whispered to her. "You mean more to me than anyone. Especially more than Cho ever did."

The thought of Cho took him back to fourth year and everything that had happened, but in the wrong order; the Triwizard Tournament, the Yule Ball, the fights he had with Ron. He thought of Cedric Diggory and the final task; Cedric and him being transported to the graveyard by the trophy that was turned into a port key.

He again saw Voldemort rising from the cauldron, the Death Eaters forming a circle around him and him dueling with Voldemort. He saw the flash of green light and Cedric sprawled on the ground; Cedric dead. Then Cedric turned into Nicole. She was lying on the ground, her eyes wide with shock. And Voldemort was standing over her, laughing.

"No!" Harry cried. "No, not Nicole! Kill me, not her, please. Please not her."

"Harry!"

He sat up and opened his eyes. He was still on the train and Nicole was sitting next to him, looking worried.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "You were crying out in your sleep."

Harry didn't answer but gathered her in his arms and held her close. "I won't let him get you," he whispered. "He can't have you."

"Who?" Nicole asked. She pulled away from him. "What are you talking about?"

"I had a dream that Voldemort killed you," Harry said. "But I won't let him."

"Well that's good," Nicole replied, nestling back into his arms. "I wouldn't want to die. Not by him."

"But by someone else?" Harry asked.

"Shh," she answered, putting a finger on his lips. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere." She kissed him and leaned her head on his shoulder. "At least not yet, anyways," she whispered to herself. Harry didn't hear her, which is what she intended.

Tonks and Lupin were waiting from them when they got off the train.

"Arthur'll take you to the Ministry late tonight," Lupin said after introductions. "I don't think you'll want to be disturbed at all."

"Thank you," Harry told him.

"Now, Molly has fixed up a wonderful meal," Tonks told them. "She and everyone else are waiting for you two at headquarters."

"Everyone else?" Harry asked. "Who's everyone?"

"Well," Lupin said. "They're having a little Order get together for the holidays. It's sort of a party. You know how Molly gets."

"We're coming too," a voice said from behind Harry. He spun around and saw Ron, Hermione and Ginny standing there.

"Why didn't you sit with us on the train?" Nicole asked.

"Well, you two were all snuggled up and cute," Ginny said. "We didn't want to disturb you. Besides, I had enough of snuggling sitting with these two." She jabbed a finger at Ron and Hermione, who were holding hands.

"That's really too bad," Nicole said as she put an arm around Harry. "We could have found someone for you and had one big snuggling party."

"Those are fun!" Tonks exclaimed. They all looked at her. "What? They are."

"That's enough of that," Lupin said. "Come on. We've got a car waiting for us. Percy did something right for once." Harry and Ron sniggered.

On the way there, Lupin handed Nicole a slip of parchment. "Read this and memorize it," he told her.

"What is it?" she asked.

"The location of Order Headquarters," Harry said. "I guess this means you're a junior member now, just like the rest of us."

She grinned as she handed the paper back to Lupin, who set it a flame with his wand. "I've always wanted to be a part of the Order," she said.

"Really?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, Dumbledore used to tell me stories about it," Nicole replied.

"That's some bedtime story," Ginny said.

"Tell me about it," Nicole laughed. "My favorite story was about Harry, though. I guess I've always been drawn to him."

"Like a moth to the flame," Hermione said.

"Just make sure you don't get burned," Ron told her. Harry glared at him.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

"Well," Ron answered. "According to Rita Skeeter, you are quite the little heart breaker." They all laughed.

"I really don't think I have anything to worry about," Nicole said, looking up at Harry. "He's stuck with me."

"And I have absolutely no problem with that," Harry said as he kissed her. They all "oo"ed and "aw"ed. Lupin pulled them apart.

"Molly would kill me if I let you two kiss," he said. "It's bad enough that we have to keep on eye on Ron and Hermione, too." He looked over at them. They both had a malicious glint in their eyes. "What?" he asked cautiously.

"On the count of three, Harry," Ron said. "Ready? One. Two. Three." With that, Ron grabbed Hermione and Harry grabbed Nicole, kissing them soundly. Lupin groaned. Ginny and Tonks giggled.

"That was a good one," Hermione said.

"I'm actually quite breathless," Nicole agreed. Tonks and Ginny laughed harder. Lupin put his face in his hands.