AUTHOR'S NOTE Big thanks to everyone who's actually reading this! It's one of those stories where I have to finish just for the sake of finishing it, not because I think it's one of my best. Anyway, thanks! Oh, and the few lines of Hagrid's at the end are from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

DISCLAIMER Don't own anyone…too bad ..sigh..

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After a week and a half, the rain finally let up. Students poured out of the castle giddy with their longing for the sun. No one had been attacked since Ginny and Oliver and the sun put everyone in some semblance of high spirits. But not Harry. He could only sit in the hospital wing with Neville and Ginny, brooding over all those he had lost. Oliver was just the end of a long list.

He left Ron, Hermione, and the twins to studying one afternoon and quietly slipped out of the Common Room. He had no destination; he just felt like wandering. Students were milling about in the sunny courtyard, but Harry soon found himself heading away from the castle and toward the Forbidden Forest. Most students still shied away from the forest in fear, but not Harry. He had left all hesitancy about the forest back in her first year.

Before he knew it, he found himself face-to-face with a thestral. He laughed dryly. Figures.

The creature just looked at him with huge eyes. Harry was silent and stroked the creature's fearsome head. Somehow the eerie silence and presence of the supernatural creatures was calming. The prospect of returning to the castle was depressing, so Harry opted to remain alone.

The already dark forest grew dimmer as afternoon faded into the evening. Resignedly, Harry stood up. He had been leaning against the back of a sleeping thestral and had almost fallen asleep himself. Sadly, he bid the creatures good-bye and started back for Hogwarts.

The castle no longer represented safety for him. Of course, after everything he'd been through, it was a miracle it had ever felt safe. Now, nowhere felt safe. The Dursley's was technically safe and so was 12 Grimmauld Place, but neither were anywhere Harry wanted to be.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't see a large tree root in his path until he tripped over it. He muttered several swears that even the Weasley twins would approve of as he headed back. He was at the edge of the forest when he tripped again.

But as he looked down to curse to daring tree root into oblivion, Harry gasped and a cold chill ran down his spine. It wasn't a tree branch.

It was Professor Snape.

.i.i.i.

"He had gone looking for you, Potter."

Harry was in the hospital wing again. Snape had been given a private room, not that he was conscious to appreciate it. Neville and Ginny remained near comatose.

Looking at Professor McGonagall, Harry asked, "Why?"

McGonagall sighed. "I didn't want to be the one to tell you. There's been another fatal attack. Professor Snape was looking for you to warn you."

Harry's heart was heavy. Another death? And now Snape was almost dead because of him? He was beginning to think it would never end. "Who was killed, Professor?" Harry asked bluntly.

Tears formed in his Professor's eyes. Harry's blood ran cold. He'd never seen her cry before. "I'm so sorry, Harry," she said.

.i.i.i.

Harry, Ron, and Dean stood silently in their doorway. This had never happened before. Harry ended up in the hospital a lot and Neville did too, but never had they been absent at the same time.

Never had there been two empty beds in the room.

"Did they notify his parents yet?" Ron asked quietly.

"Yeah," Dean said. They were silent again.

"I can't believe this," Ron whispered. "I never thought…what was he doing by the Quidditch Pitch anyway? He didn't play Quidditch."

Dean just shrugged. The three boys remained standing still. None wanted to enter the dormitory. Finally, Harry turned away. "Harry, where are you going?" Ron asked.

"For a walk," came the short reply.

"It's not safe, mate."

Angrily, Harry turned on his best friend. "When has Hogwarts ever been safe, Ron? Tell me! Better yet, tell Cedric or Pansy Parkinson or Oliver or now Seamus! Tell them when Hogwarts has been safe!"

Ron didn't say anything at Ron's outburst. He and Dean just watched as Harry stormed off.

"You think he'll be all right?" Dean asked.

Ron shrugged. "He thinks it's all his fault."

"What's doing this, Ron?" Dean's voice was soft and sounded scared. "McGonagall said it might be You-Know-Who, but I don't think it is."

"No," Ron agreed. "It isn't."

"Then what else could kill us like this?"

Ron sighed and finally stepped into the dorm room. "I don't know."

.i.i.i.

Harry figured no one would come to look for him in the hospital wing. Outside of members of the DA or Gryffindor House, Neville and Ginny had few visitors. Professor Snape was not allowed visitors, not that they were knocking down the door anyway.

Silently, Harry kept a vigil over his two friends. Thoughts spun through his head, not one making sense. Seamus was dead. Professor Snape was nearly in a coma and it was his fault. Harry had never expected to feel anything remotely resembling guilt over bad things happening to the Potions Master and yet here he was. Ginny was dating Oliver, but Oliver was dead. Harry wondered if Ginny knew that.

He looked down at the bed next to him. Neville. Why had he been the first victim? A thought occurred to Harry and he shivered as though a cold chill had crept into the hospital.

Was Neville the first victim because of the prophecy? Was Voldemort really behind all of this? Harry sighed. He wondered, for what seemed like the hundredth time since that day in Dumbledore's office, what his life would have been like had Neville been chosen. Would he be lying in that hospital bed and Neville watching over him? Would he even still be alive?

The truth was no one knew how things would have been different. That possibly was the most maddening part. Harry stood up in frustration. He couldn't stay in the hospital. Merlin knows why he thought it would be less depressing than his dorm room. With no real destination, Harry left and walked the corridors of Hogwarts.

As he wandered the massive castle's halls, a memory stirred. It was just after Hagrid had told him who he was. They were in Diagon Alley, talking about Gringott's. "Taint no safer place," Hagrid had said. "Not one. 'Cept perhaps Hogwarts." Harry cracked a joyless smile. The irony of that statement was just priceless.

Suddenly, Harry perked up. "Hagrid!" he said aloud. He would go visit Hagrid. Hagrid would give him something hot to drink and let him forget about the awful things that had happened. Harry cast a wary eye around him and slipped off toward Hagrid's hut.