GS: (in shock) This story has over 600 reviews. (more shock, stares blankly at screen)

Midori: Oh boy. (climbs up to GS's ear) AUTHOR-LADY, WAKE UP!

GS: Aaaah! (falls over) Ow…Midori-chan, you're mean!

Midori: And you have review responses to do! Get with it!

GS: Okay, okay…Responses to various random reviews:

1) No, I am not Japanese. I am Texan. Seriously, my family's records go back to a settlement near what-is-now Big Spring back when this was still a Spanish territory.

2) Pizza is not Italian. It is pseudo-Italian, created in America by someone who decided to call it Italian because he based it off some kind of cheesy bread dish. And yes, I have had pizza in other countries…Montreal, Canada. (It had snails on it) What I was wondering is how common pizza IS in England, and whether it's the same stuff we think off. I mean, when you say 'bacon' in England, you don't mean the little thin strips we eat, you mean really thick pieces of meat like slices of ham.

3) Heh heh…Yes, the line "There's no room for sloppiness when wearing kimono." is part of a tribute to The Best Defense, a Yu Yu Hakusho/Harry Potter crossover by JoIsBishMyoga. It's one of my favorite fics of all time, and my main inspiration for this one, not to mention half my cultural references. (She knows sooo much more than I do…I'm jealous.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or Harry Potter. I'm just really strange.

Chapter 29: Nightmares

Harry slipped through the trees, the leaves crushing wordlessly beneath him, the wind whispering in his ear. It was night, and so, all was dark, and he was hidden against the ground. He lay flat and moved quickly, sliding easily through gaps he shouldn't have been able to fit through. He felt powerful, more powerful than anything he'd ever even thought of feeling before…

The trees around him were hardly a trifle, seeing as most of them were a good deal smaller around than he was, but he was very careful to disturb them as little as possible. No reason to give his prey warning that he was coming. Yes…his prey…he could smell them, taste them, hear their voices in a clearing just ahead of him.

"This has been going well, hasn't it?" a semi-deep voice whispered in the night. The taste he got from it was light and tart, but also strong enough that he almost recoiled in disgust of it.

"Indeed." said a second voice. "It seams the ones who would wish us harm has not the power to discover our intentions…at least, not yet." This speaker was dark, oh yes, very dark, he could feel it, he could taste it, but there was no acid in his darkness…simply pure, sweet darkness, dancing lightly across his tongue.

There was another scent, too, younger and stronger, so much like the darkness, oh so very much…but there was something different about it, something that set it apart from the other two. This figure, it smelled…it smelled…

It smelled human.

He had now reached where he could see the figures through the trees. The light came from a large, rabbit-like creature, hovering worriedly on one side of the tiny clearing. The darkness radiated from a lion-like figure at a three o'clock place from his view point, sitting on the ground with a tall staff in his hand. He seamed to be guarding a smaller figure, just in front of him…the second darkness, the human…he could almost see him, in some kind of a trace, a glowing object clutched in his small hands.

"It's so quiet…" the rabbit whispered. "It's hard to believe anything is happening, isn't it?"

"You, of all Digimon, should know not to trust the silence." the lion sounded half-jokingly. "After all, was that not…"

He cut off suddenly, his head snapping around. The rabbit tensed as the black-armored warrior abruptly stood. "What?" the light-creature asked. "What is it?"

"Something's here." the lion growled low in his throat, gripping his staff.

The rabbit turned his little black eyes this way and that nervously. "Are you certain? It's not one of the Floramon?"

"No…" the lion began advancing on the trees, slowly.

The boy stirred slightly, his trance-concentration broken. The light in his hands faded slightly as dark blue eyes looked up past blue-black hair, confused. "Lowemon? What is it?"

The lion turned back slightly to answer, leaving himself slightly vulnerable and open…

Harry suddenly lifted his head and lunged with all the force the huge, powerful body could muster, fangs bared at the lion. The warrior spun around at the last possible second and blocked, catching his fangs on the staff and holding him, barely inches away from being able to sink his fangs deep into that armored shoulder…

"Lowemon!" the human boy exclaimed, scrambling to his feet and dropping the purple-and-lilac object he'd been working with.

The lion continued to hold Harry in mid-attack. "Antylamon, get Kouichi out of here, now!"

The rabbit wasted no time in responding, grabbing the boy by the shoulders and flinging him backwards. For a moment, Harry caught a glimpse of the boy's face as he fell back…but he vanished in a burst of static as soon as he hit the ground.

His attention was immediately returned to the current battle, wrenching himself free of the staff and turning to sink his teeth into the now-vulnerable lion-warrior…

"Harry! Harry!"

Harry burst awake with a slight cry, only to find himself in bed, in the Gryffindor dorms, with Ron shaking him savagely by the shoulders and half of the other dormmates crowded around. Seamus had thrown a glass of water in his face, so now both his hair and his pillow were soaked through.

"Oi, about time, mate." Ron sighed, sinking back to sit on his own bunk. "Nearly gave us all heart attacks."

Harry blinked stupidly at the blurry shapes around him. "Wha…What happened?"

"You started yelling in your sleep." Neville muttered, wringing his hands. "And thrashing around, like you were angry at something…"

"Oh, and you nailed Minamoto." Dean thumbed towards the closed curtains across the room. "Kanbara slept through the whole thing, but Kouji there stormed off once your fist connected with his jaw."

"I'm…sorry?" Harry muttered blankly. He hadn't even had any limbs in his dream, why was he throwing punches…?

His dream.

What had it been about? He thought hard…couldn't come up with the details, but it seamed urgent…There were a few flashes off the top of his head, fading fast. A black lion-like warrior…a large rabbit? A young boy…And the lion had said…"Get Kouichi out of here." But that was impossible, Kouichi was in the Slytherin dorms, he knew he was.

"Harry? You okay, buddy?" Seamus asked.

Harry shook his head. "Yeah…yeah…I'm fine."

( - ) ( - ) ( - )

Harry didn't feel very good the next morning, but, as it wasn't bad enough to go to the hospital wing, he just had to deal with it. Besides, they'd been back in classes for two weeks now, and he had (as Hermione kept reminding him) a ton of homework to catch up on.

He wasn't the only 'zombie' in the Great Hall that morning, either. A few glances over at the Slytherin table and you could easily pick out Kouichi, nearly falling asleep on his plate. He got very close a few times, until Malfoy poked him with his wand to bring him back to attention.

Kouji noticed as well, as well as Takuya, and after breakfast was over they hurriedly pulled the Slytherin transfer off to one side. "Kouichi." the younger twin whispered urgently. "What's wrong? You look worse than usual."

"As in, you look like you got hit by a truck, which then backed up over you and did it again." Takuya piped. "Suffice it to say, you look like hell, buddy. What's up?"

Kouichi shook his head blurrily, closing his eyes for a moment before responding. "Last night…I tried bringing Izumi's D-Tector through the link…"

Kouji frowned as Takuya counted on his fingers. "…It's been over three weeks since Christmas." he reported, confused. "So what happened? Was it harder than usual?"

"No, it wasn't…" Kouichi shook his head. "But…half-way through…Something attacked us…"

"What!" Takuya exclaimed.

Kouji immediately began searching over his brother's arms and legs. "You weren't hurt, were you?"

"No…No I wasn't hurt." Kouichi muttered. He slid down the wall and sat down, closing his eyes again as he leaned his head back. "But…Lowemon…and Antylamon…I don't know if they're…"

"Don't think about it." Kouji soothed, knelling down to brush his brother's bangs back, so he could see his eyes better when he opened them. "I'm sure they're fine… They're strong, both of them. The one I'm worried about is you, Nii-san."

"I'm fine…really."

"No you're not." Takuya frowned. "You're exhausted, that's what you are. And what's more than that, you almost look sick. Maybe pulling out in the middle of a spell didn't go down so well."

Kouichi gave a muffled groan, leaning his head on his knees. "My head hurts…"

Kouji pressed a hand to his brother's forehead. "…You feel a bit warm. Maybe Takuya's right." he sighed. "I'll take you to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey can help."

"No…Kouji, I'm fine…It's just a headache…"

"Do it, or will both drag you up there." Takuya grinned.

Kouji slipped his arm under his brother's, hoisting him to his feet. "Easy does it…" he whispered softly, leading him up to the hospital. "Everything's gonna be okay."

( - ) ( - ) ( - )

"Harry? Harry!"

The boy snapped out of his dull stupor with a slight jolt. "Huh?"

Hermione frowned at him. "We didn't come to the library just to stare out the window, Harry." she gestured with the large book open in front of her. "We're here to study."

"Yeah…Sorry." Harry shook his head slightly to wake up a bit, then turned back to lean over his book. However, his mind floated aimlessly back to his dream. He'd been in that position before…low to the ground…he must have been a snake. And those creatures, the blurry little he could remember of them…one of them had called to the other…he called them…

"Hermione." he spoke suddenly. "Have you ever heard of creatures called… Digimon?"

Hermione looked up from her book, perplexed. "No…can't say that I have." she blinked. "Why do you ask, Harry? We're not even reading for Care of Magical Creatures now…"

Ron leaned over, examining his friend's face. "This have anything to do with that dream last night, mate?"

"Dream?" Hermione straitened. "What kind of dream?"

"…I'm not sure." Harry mumbled slightly, and shrugged. "I don't remember all of it…But I remember that word. 'Digimon'. There were these…animals…who were talking about themselves that way…"

"Talking? As in, legibly?" Harry nodded, and Hermione shook her head. "Harry, if they can legibly and truthfully speak, they're not 'creatures'. They're 'beings'. It's right there in the classes from the Ministry, included in Fantastic Beasts…"

"'Mione, please." Ron groaned. "So Harry, these 'beings'…What were they like?"

"…Different. Very different." Harry closed his eyes, trying to remember. "One was a lot bigger than the other…brighter…The smaller one was…kind of dark…"

"A Death Eater?"

"No…" Harry shook his head. "More like…more like…" For a moment he searched for a term, then it sparked. "…Like Kimura. Dark…But not evil. Just dark."

For a moment, both Ron and Hermione stewed on this. "Do you think…" The girl started. "Do you think it has anything to do with the bird that appeared at the Quidditch match last semester?"

Harry nodded. "I think so…They seamed kind of the same, but not quite…Like different flavors of Every Flavor Beans."

Hermione suddenly stood and disappeared into the shelves, returning moments later with several large books. "Well then." she said briskly, lying them out on the table. "I guess we'll have to start looking, won't we?"

Harry and Ron sighed, but each took a book and began working their way through them for any sign of 'Digimon'.

TBC…