As Harry lay there, in the hospital wing, with his eyes closed tight in a fake slumber, he was listening intently to a conversation between the nurse and Professor Dumbledore.

"The boy was standing in a fire, Dumbledore, that is not normal," whispered the nurse in a worried tone.

"Yes, well, Harry has never had to deal with normal problems either. When he wakes up you'll see that there is a reason for it, Poppy."

"I can't imagine there being a reason for burning yourself in a blazing fire!"

"It doesn't seem logical, I know, but try to understand, for a second, that he could have been thinking of something or someone else besides himself at that moment," answered Dumbledore tiredly.

Harry had been listening to conversations like these all morning while he continued to pretend to be asleep. Everyone thought it was bizarre for him to willingy harm himself the way he did. The truth was he was ashamed of his actions; he couldn't believe that he had stood in the fire to the point where he practically melted his skin off. He didn't want to talk to anyone, and have them look at him like he was insane. Sure, Harry was used to being thought of as insane by strangers, but now even the nurse thought he was crazy; imagine what was going around school?

As the nurse walked into another room, Harry could sense Dumbledore looking at him for a few moments before he said patiently, "It's time you stopped pretending, Harry."

Harry grinned as he sat up slowly and opened his eyes to see Dumbledore sitting neatly beside him. "You knew the whole time?"

"You can't fool me, Harry!" winked Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eyes.

There was a small silence that followed where Harry simply waited for Dumbledore to ask him what had happened that night, where he had dreamed…or actually seen (Harry still didn't know whether it was real or not), Voldemort and Sirius in the Gryffindor common room. When Dumbledore didn't ask him, and just continued to sit and stare pleasantly at Harry, he said sheepishly, "So everyone thinks I'm crazy again, huh?"

"You know, Harry, a lot of people think I am crazy as well, but other people also say I am "brilliant". Not everyone is going to understand or agree with you, and they have a right to their own opinions. It's like how you detest Draco Malfoy so much, while other people like the boy."

Harry slowly nodded, "I know, but everyone is always talking about things they know nothing about. They don't know why I was standing in the fire, and they don't know why my scar burns, but they talk about it anyways. I try not to let it bother me, professor, but…I hate the pointing and whispering as I walk through the halls."

Here is where Harry was half expecting Dumbledore to ask him why he was standing in the fire, but he didn't. Dumbledore just answered, "Sadly Harry, I'm afraid that people will probably always do that to you. You're the boy who lived, and as such, you continue to have battles and problems because of that." The headmaster looked compassionately at Harry before adding, "People don't know what the prophecy said, Harry, but you do, and as long as there is a Voldemort, he will continue to cause these troubles for you. And people, though they know nothing of it, will want to comment on it. Think nothing of it though, because you are better than that."

Harry had to cast his eyes down at this because he couldn't take the look in Dumbledore's eyes. He nodded solemnly and answered, "Okay" before he felt compelled to share, "I had a dream….that's why I was in the fire, or actually, I thought it was real until Clara woke me up."

Dumbledore nodded patiently, but didn't press Harry to continue. Harry continued anyways, "I dreamed that I woke up, same as usual, in the middle of the night and I heard something in the common room so I went down there to check it out, but when I did…Voldemort was there. He said he wanted to torment me or something and I asked him how, or something like that and he kicked an object on the ground; then, out from behind the couch crawled Sirius. Voldemort said Sirius belonged to him now. And in my dream, I didn't want to believe it so I insulted Voldemort repeatedly before I really got him mad. He started conjuring spells at me, so I ran towards my godfather to try and save him. I picked Sirius up because he was too weak to move and I tried to run to the porthole, but before I got there he seemed to be sucked into the fire. I tried to hold on to him, but he was sucked into the fire along with Voldemort in a swirl of green. I didn't want to accept that he was gone so I kept reaching for Sirius…..he was gone though…." Harry was a little breathless after all this explaining, but he was glad that he was finally letting Dumbledore know about his dream. He wanted to know if it meant anything because if anyone knew anything about it, it would be Dumbledore.

Harry looked puzzeldly into Dumbledore's downcast eyes as he waited for a reply. Slowly, the headmaster answered, "Do you feel like the dream is real, Harry?"

"I think it would be foolish to think that it was real considering what happened last time I believed a dream was real."

"But if that hadn't have happened, what would you think?" asked Dumbledore sternly.

All Harry could do was shake his head and say, "I don't know"

"I'm afraid to say that, it might actually be real, Harry."

Harry closed his eyes tightly and shook his head. He thought he would be ecstatic to know there is a possibiliythat his godfather was still alive, the one person who felt like a real family member. But to think that he could bein the hands of Voldemort, it was almost worse. Right then Harry realized that Dumbledore wasn't just saying that it might be real, he was saying that it was real, "What can we do?"

Dumbledore answered gently, "Harry, you know that this could possibly be a trap…like last time."

"Yeah, I know that, but we can't just let Sirius rot while being controlled by Voldemort. We need to help him," said Harry determinedly.

"I can't let you risk your life to save him. He did the same for you, remember? You would have given anything for him to have just stayed inside instead of coming to your rescue, wouldn't you? He would want you safe, Harry. That's all he ever cared about."

"I know, but all I want is for him to be safe too….and not to be suffering because of me," Harry was starting to get really frustrated with this conversation. He couldn't just go on with his daily life knowing that his godfather's every waking moment was a living hell.

"I am working on a way to help him, but Harry, you must promise that you will not try to save him. It is no time to be a hero. You must promise me," Dumbledore never looked so desperate. He stared down at Harry expectantly; he needed Harry to do this.

"Okay….but your going to try to help him?" Harry answered reluctantly.

Dumbledore nodded relieved. He stood up and started to walk towards the door until he turned around and said, "You must always remember Harry, that you are better than worrying about what everyone says about you. You're stronger than that."

Harry smiled grimly at his beloved headmaster as he walked softly away.

As Harry had rightly guessed, there were many rumors that had gone around while he spent the week in the hospital wing. The only people that knew the truth, however, was Ron, Hermoine, and Clara (of course). What Harry decided to keep from them though, was that Sirius was in fact, alive, and that the dream was real. He didn't know why he felt compelled to keep this from them, but he just wasn't ready to hear their reactions yet.

When Harry returned to classes on Tuesday, he was continually followed with stares and whispers and of course, many jokes from the infamous Malfoy. Harry wasn't as bothered by these though because he made sure Dumbledore's words eccoed in his head everytime he felt himself getting mad. He had to be stronger than that.

What also helped keep his mind off all of his problems, was the next Quidditch game was coming up sooner than expected. Harry of course was practicing like crazy along with the rest of the Gryffindor team. And since the last game, the team decided that it would make sense if they let Harry be team captain since he did shake hands as the team captain at their first game. Although Harry tried to say that he didn't want to take anyones place and that someone else probably wanted it more, they all agreed that it was for the best.

So Harry went on normally through his days, acting as if things were all right, but by nights, he hardly slept. This was because he was afraid that if he slept, that maybe he would dream.