"He's awake"
"Madam Pomfrey he's coming to"
"Eat this." Harry started to come back to the light as he felt a block of chocolate was shoved between his lips. He opened his eyes and found Hermione and Ron staring at him. It all came back to him.
"The Dementors were at Hogwarts," he shouted bolting up. Hermione and Ron pushed him back onto the bed.
"We know Harry," Hermione said. "Everyone saw them"
"Ginny," Harry whispered. "Where's Ginny"
"She's here," Ron said. "She's in the bed next to you." Harry looked over the the bed next to him and saw Ginny lying curled up on her side asleep.
"There were so many of them," Harry said. "I tried to conjure a Patronus but there were just too many of them.
"It took Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape to get rid of them. Dumbledore was furious that they were on the school grounds. He's gone to the Ministy of Magic to demand an explantion"
"Oh no the match," Harry suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be playing Quidditch right now.
"The match has been postponed, til tomorrow," Ron said.
"This doesn't make any sense," Hermione said. "Sirius hasn't been seen anywhere near Hogwarts. Why would the dementors come here"
"They were after me," Harry said. "They came after me specifically."
"Out all of you," Madam Pomfrey said coming over to them. "Potter needs his rest"
"We'll come and see you later Harry," Hermione said pulling Ron away. Harry lay back against his pillows. He couldn't sleep. He kept thinking about the dementors. Why were they coming after him now. He looked over at Ginny. He couldn't help remembering the kiss he'd given her and how it had been her happy thought when they were being attacked. He got out of bed and went over to her. He never realized until now how pretty she really was or how special she had become to him. Maybe Sirius's warning to him wasn't entirely unfounded. He clenched his fists. The thought of anyone using him to hurt her, was unbearable. He took her hand and stroked it thoughtfully. He looked down and realized her eyes were open.
"Hello Harry," she said softly. She sat up and leaned against him. He slipped his arm around her and held her close.
"Sorry I woke you," he whispered.
"It's okay," she said. "What happened"
"Dementors," he said. "Dumbledore's gone to ministry to find out why they were here"
"It was so awful," Ginny whimpered. "I kept hearing Riddle's voice in my head"
"That's what dementors do. They make you relive your worst memory ever"
"I still dream about him sometimes," she said. "He makes me do the worst things. Once he even made me kill you." Harry hugged her tighter.
"I see you and I want to stop but I can't because he's so strong"
"He's doesn't have power over you anymore, Ginny. He can't hurt you anymore"
"But he could still hurt you," Ginny said laying her head on his shoulder. "I don't want to lose you Harry"
"You won't lose me," he said. "I'll always take care of you Ginny. I promise." They sat together for awhile in silence until Harry realized that she had fallen asleep again. He went back to his own bed and tried to sleep. Just as he was about to nod off, he shot bolt upright in bed. Professor Dashall. She'd been there. She'd had a wand in her hand but she hadn't done anything. He was so confused. Last night Professor Dashall had been almost nice to him, and then today...Sirius had assured him that Professor Dashall had nothing to do with the attacks. But why wouldn't she have tried to send the dementors away?
"Great match everyone," Angelina called as Gryffindor made their way to the showers. Harry grinned. They had beaten Ravenclaw two hundred fifty to nothing. It hadn't been a defeat it had been a massacre. Ginny hadn't let the Quaffle in once. Harry was happier than he'd been in a long time. An announcement had been made that morning about the dementors. Apparently no one at the ministry knew anything about them so all students were being taught to summon a Patronus Charm in DADA. Harry had a feeling that Snape would use the opportunity to make him look like a fool but he didn't care. He stepped out of the shower and pulled on his clothes. He had just stepped out of the locker room when he heard a loud bang. He turned and ran down the hall in the direction of the sound.
"Harry!" he heard Hermione shout. She and Ron came running toward him.
"It came from over here." They saw a cloud of smoke and a frightened looking Ginny.
"Ginny," Hermione said darting forward. "Are you all right"
"It worked," Ginny said in astonishment. "The potion worked"
"What potion," Ron snapped. "What is going on"
"It attacked me," Ginny said panting. "It looked just like Harry. But it wasn't him. I knew it wasn't him. Harry would never..."
"It's all right Ginny," Hermione said. "Just calm down"
"So I dropped the revealing potion. And it turned into this...oh Merlin it was horrible!" Ginny began to sob. Hermione wrapped her arms around the younger girl.
"What's the revealing potion?" Ron wanted to know.
"After I was attacked," Hermione explained. "All the girls were sent to Great Hall. Professor Dashall told everyone what was going on and gave us this." Hermione reached into her robes and pulled out what looked like a bottle of perfume.
"When you drop it at the feet of someone who isn't who you think, it reveals their true identity"
"What would it do if it really were the person?" Harry asked.
"Nothing," Hermione said. "It would look like we had just dropped a bottle of perfume"
"What is going on here?" McGonagall appeared suddenly with Dashall and Wood behind her.
"Ginny was attacked," Ron said.
"I used the potion Professor Dashall," Ginny said. "It worked"
"What did it reveal Miss Weasly?" McGonagall wanted to know.
"It wasn't human," Ginny said in a small voice. "It was more like a demon"
"Miss Weasly please come with me, the headmaster will need to see you," McGonagall said. "Emily please prepare another bottle of revealing potion for Miss Weasly. I doubt whatever we are dealing with will attack her again but I refuse to take chances. Potter, Weasly, I must ask you to reveal what you have heard here to no one. Are we clear"
"Yes, Professor." they murmured.
"Now get to your dormitory. Emily if you could bring the bottle to the Headmasters office"
"Of course," Professor Dashall said. McGonagall guided Ginny toward Dumbledore's office and Dashall turned to go to her office with Wood following behind her. Harry's eyes trailed after her.
"Harry are you coming?" Hermione asked.
"I'll be along in a minute," he said. After they had gone Harry ducked into a corner and opened his school bag. He pulled out his invisiblity cloak and the Marauders Map.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," He said. The map opened and he saw Hogwarts. He saw Dashall and Wood heading toward her office. Throwing his cloak around him he hurried to the secret passage that took him to the cellar. He arrived in Dashall's office and hid in the corner. He stayed absolutely quiet as the door opened and Dashall and Wood entered.
"You didn't have to accompany me Oliver," Dashall said heading toward her cabinet.
"Well I wanted to," Wood said. "We can't be too careful with this thing running around attacking people"
"My thoughts exactly," Dashall said. In a flash spun around and smashed a bottle at Wood's feet. Harry's eyes widened as a puff of pink smoke rose in front of Wood. Wood coughed and his eyes began to water but he remained Wood.
"Bloody hell, woman," Wood said coughing. "What was that." Dashall sighed.
"I'm sorry Oliver. But you weren't with me before the attack on Ginny and..."
"I understand." Wood said.
"Whatever this thing is, we can't let it get the upper hand on us." She began to pull ingredients from her cabinet.
"Oliver," she said. "This thing isn't just picking random people to appear as"
"How do you mean?" Wood asked.
"Well, first it appeared to Pansy as Malfoy. From the way Pansy always sticks up for him in my class and the way Malfoy reacted when he found out she'd been raped I think it's clear that they're more than just friends"
"I agree," Wood said.
"And Hermione and Ron are dating, and well it's obvious that there's something going on between Harry and Ginny are more than just friends"
"Absolutely," Wood said. Harry's face turned red. How did everyone know about what was going on between him and Ginny when he himself had only figured it out a day ago.
"So this thing, isn't just appearing to these girls as someone they trust. It's choosing the boys that are special to them." Wood raised an eyebrow at her.
"So why would that make you afraid to be alone with me?" Dashall's face turned bright red.
"You know why," she said. Wood leaned in closely as though to kiss her but she held up a hand to stop him.
"Oliver," she said.
"You know how I feel about you"
"We can't Oliver. You know why"
"Because you're older than me? I'm nineteen, you're twenty-one"
"Not because of that," she said. "Because of who I am"
"I told you I don't care about that"
"If it got out, and it will, you could get hurt. Snape already knows, and I know Harry suspects me. And yesterday when I couldn't fight off those dementors"
"That wasn't your fault. Without a wand"
"I had a wand," she said. "I had Ginny's wand I just couldn't summon the Patronus. Now everyone is going to think I'm a fraud"
"No one thinks that," Wood said. "That potion you gave the girls obviously works like a charm. You're a powerful witch. I think that the reason you couldn't summon the Patronus was that you lacked the essential ingredient"
"A happy memory," Dashall said. "I guess I don't have too many of those." Wood took her face in his hands and kissed her. Harry felt his face get hot. He shouldn't be here. This was a private moment. But he had to know what was going. Dashall broke the kiss and looked at Wood a bit dazed.
"There's one for you. At least I hope it made you happy."
"Something terrible is about to happen, Oliver. The dementors coming here can't be a coincidence"
"You think that Dumbledore is right? You think they've joined forces with You-Know-Who"
"Fudge is crazy if he thinks that they'll remain loyal to the ministry. Voldemort can give them much more use for their powers. With Pettigrew rejoining him, there's no telling what he could be up to." Harry was astonished. How did Dashall know about Peter Pettigrew? He was sure that only Dumbledore, Sirius, Lupin, Hermione, Ron and himself knew about that.
"What are we going to do?" Wood asked.
"As long as Dumbledore is here Harry will be safe. Voldemort won't attack him while Dumbledore's here. Well, we better get back." She poured the contents of the cauldron into a bottle and she and Wood left the room.