A/N: Whoa. It's been far too long. Sorry. Okay anyways, I know this chapter is probably going to seem somewhat forced, but I was having some serious writers block…again, very sorry.

DISCLAIMER: No, I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter 14

Harry's slumber continued peacefully until, suddenly, his dream about Tranfiguration was interrupted but the image of a pair of red glinting eyes, upon a ghant face with a malicious grin. The mouth opened and began to speak in the same cold, chilling voice that Harry had grown to hate.

"Hello, Potter. Surprised to see me? I thought I'd just drop by and have a little chat. So, I think I'll get right to it…what does the prophecy say?"Harry's subconscious remained silent. Voldemort couldn't seriously think that he'd tell him, did he? He must have some sort of plan.

"Not going to tell me Potter? No worry. You'll be seeing me again soon, and I won't be so forgiving next time."

Voldemort let out a cold high-pitched sinister laugh and disappeared.

Harry woke with a start, gasping and breathing heavily, letting out a slight yelp. This awoke Ron, who spoke suddenly.

"Harry?" he asked, opening his drapes and soon opening Harry's.

"Harry? What's wrong? Did you have one of those dreams?" Ron asked, now sitting next to Harry.

"Well…sort of. It was freaky. He basically visited me in my dreams and talked. He's trying to get me to tell him what the prophecy says."

Ron sighed, "I reckon we should tell Dumbledore."

"Yeah, I guess."

Ron and Harry grabbed their robes and exited through the portrait hole, heading for Dumbledore's office. They were in the middle of corridor, near Gryffindor Tower, walking in silence, when Ron spoke.

"So, he just…randomly appeared in your mind?"

"Basically. He just forced his way into my mind in the middle of my dream. He's not done yet, though. He'll come back, he—" but Harry was cut off by the sudden noise of footsteps from around the corner.

"Mr. Potter? Mr. Weasley?" McGonaggle said. "What are you doing out here? And you better have a good reason."

"We were going to see Professor Dumbledore," Harry replied quickly.

"Why? What's the matter, Potter?"

"Um…well, you know how he said to inform him immediately if I have any of those Voldemort dreams where he breaks into my head?"

"Yes?"

"Well, I just had one."

"Okay…just a second." McGonaggle whipped out her wand and shot a silver vapor, looking oddly like some sort of bird, towards Professor Dumbledore's office.

"Professor Dumbledore should be here in a moment."

A minute later Professor Dumbledore came striding toward them.

"Is everything alright?"

Harry nodded, "It's just that, I'm supposed to tell you about any Voldemort dreams I have, and I just had one."

"What happened?" he asked sighing.

And so Harry launched into outlining the dream for the professors. When he was finished, Dumbledore sighed.

"This is worse than I expected. Well, I suppose teaching you Occlumency will not be able to wait until Monday night. We'll have to schedual an impromptu session for tomorrow night. Be there 5:00 pm, please Harry."

Harry nodded.

"Alright. And when you go to sleep again tonight, just be sure to try and clear your mind of all thoughts."

"Yes, Professor."

The next morning, Harry awoke, with a sense of foreboding lurking in the back of his mind from when he slept. But he awoke without have had any more mind break-ins.

After breakfast Harry sat down next to Ginny in the common room, which brought back all of Ron's feelings from the day before. Things between him and Harry may have been fine in the middle of the night, but now that the action had died down, things were awkward again. Though Harry was feeling a bit more forgiving to Ron, seeing as he now had the vague recollection of him apologizing, just as Harry drifted off to sleep.

"Harry?" Ron asked.

"Yeah?"

"Er—do you want to play a game of chess?"

Harry sighed, "Fine."

They played chess in silence for minutes. Ron finally spoke, "Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"Listen, mate…"

Harry sat up and looked Ron directly in the face.

Ron continued, "I'm sorry about how I reacted. I mean…well…it's just…you've got to understand this is going to be hard for me, and all." Ron sighed deeply and continued, "I mean…I do underatstand Harry. I just worry about her, I guess. But you better be serious about her, Harry, otherwise I'll have to hex you into the next year…"

Harry smiled inwardly. "Yeah, I'm serious about her. Believe me. What else could cause me so much inner turmoil?" he joked. "And yeah, I get what you're saying. Just try not to do it again, will you? I don't want our friendship to end up worse than in our fouth year—I don't know if I could handle something like that again."

"Yeah…same here. You know, I reckon if she has to be with someone who's going to be putting her life in danger…I'm glad it's you. You guys deserve each other."

Harry smiled slightly. "Thanks." He sighed, "And you know, I've talked to her about the danger—she's absolutely fine with it. She's already in danger anyway, after going to the Department of Mysteries."

Ron nodded.

Harry and Ron continued with their game of chess.

Around fifteen minutes later, Ginny walked into the common room. She plopped down into the armchair directly next to Harry, furtively grabbing his hand.

"Hey Gin," Harry greeted hey, all smiles.

"Hi."

"Where were you earlier?" he asked.

Ginny replied, "Oh I was out by the lake studying for my Transfiguartion test with Luna. We're in the same class."

"You already have a test?"

"OWL year," Ginny stated dully, shrugging.

The group sat talking for quite some time.

Before Harry knew it, it was nearly 5:00 pm. He was slightly on edge, nervously awaiting his first proper Occlumency lesson. At 4:50 he headed out of Gryffindor Tower and went to Dumbledore's office. He knocked on the door and slowly entered. Dumbledore waved him in, motioning to sit in his usual spot in front if the headmaster's desk.

"Hello Harry. If you're ready, I think we'll begin."

Harry nodded.

"Now Harry, close your eyes and think of a blank black area. Try to lock away all your thoughts."

Harry concentrated with the mental strength he could muster and boxed away all the memories he could.

"Now Harry, I'm going to attempt to break into your mind. Do not use your wand this time. Just resist in anyway possible with your mind. Try your hardest to concentrate on the blank picture in you head."

"Legimins," Dumbledore muttered.

Harry could feel something prying at his mind, but he did his best to hold his memories tight in his locked boxes. He shielded his mind with his entire mind, concentrating hard on the blank picture. He felt Dumbledore's prying lift. Harry opened his eyes.

"Very good, Harry. But that was the easy way. Now I will attempt to enter you mind again, this time forcefully."

Dumbledore cast the spell again, attempting to break into Harry's mind. Harry did well at first, resisting the attempt well, but after a few moments, Dumbledore broke through. Memories flashed before his eyes. Sirius falling through the ragged veil…laughing and joking with Ginny, guessing passwords for his father's diary…sitting alone in his cupboard, staring at the spider webs, tears rolling down his cheek as a young boy…Harry and Ginny's first kiss…

The memories stopped flashing as Harry tried to fight Dumbledore more. Dumbledore, noticing Harry's resistance to him seeing his personal memories, lifted the spell.

Harry sighed.

"That was a very good first attempt Harry," said Dumbldore.

Dumbledore continued this for a few more attempts, receiving the same results.

"I think that's all for tonight. Use the techniques I taught you earlier before you sleep every night."

Harry nodded and exited the office.

Dinner was delicious but pasted quickly. The four friends were heading back to the common room. Harry and Ginny were holding hands, but not in a flashy way. But, sadly enough, someone noticed that definitely was not welcome to. There was a sneering noise behind them.

"Oh, so Potter's finally dating the muggle-lover's daughter, huh? I knew it would happen. She's been in love with him ever since she saw the guy! How anyone could ever love someone like Potter is beyond me…" Malfoy sneered. Pansy Parkinson giggles shrilly beside him.

What happened next went quickly, before anyone realized what Ginny was doing. She had released Harry's hand, ran over to Draco, and punched him right in the face, leaving him whimpering on the floor.

"Nice," said Harry.

"Why thank you!" Ginny replied, grabbing his hand again, and continuing on. They left Draco on the floor with Pansy crying all over him. The group smirked and continued on their way.

The group entered the common room and sat down in their usual squishy armchairs near the fire. Ginny was staring into space, but soon saw a new notice on the bulletin board:

Notice to All 3rd Years and Above:

The next Hogsmeade weekend is October 31st.

"Ooh," Ginny began, "the Hogsmeade trip! It's not too far off."

Harry smiled. He and Ginny could make it a "date." Their first.

The rest of the weekend passed quickly, with all the homework they had. By Monday they were exhausted. But, sadly, the professor's didn't care about that. So the week carried on with extreme amounts of homework.

Before Harry knew it was Wednesday, the day of Quidditch try-outs. They were to be that evening at 5:00 pm. At 4:30 Harry was impatiently and nervously pacing the common room. Ginny was sitting in a chair tapping her feet apprehensively. Ron stood, leaning against the wall, twiddling his thumbs quickly. Hermione sat patiently in a chair by the fire, reading Advanced Arithmancy and How to Use it in Life.

At 4:45 Harry, Ron, and Ginny could not bear it any longer, and went ahead down towards the pitch. They changed into their robes and sat waiting patiently for everyone to arrive.

By 5:10, everyone who planned on trying out had arrived and were awaiting instructions.

"Okay, well, hi, I'm Harry, the Gryffindor Team Captain. Um…so, if we could have the current team members right here by me, please?"

Ron, Katie Bell, Jack Slopper, and Andrew Kirke walked over to Harry amd stood next to him. Ginny stayed still, a look of indecisiveness upon her face.

"Erm…Harry?" she began, "Should I just stay over here?"

"Oh…um…yeah, I guess that's fine, Gin." Ginny nodded. "Okay then. Let's have the chasers first." Harry smiled sneakily at Ginny. Ginny grinned right back at him.

The students trying out for chaser grabbed their brooms hurriedly.

"Now, I want all of you—within the next five minutes—score as many goals as you can. Here's the quaffle. Go." Harry blew his whistle.

The try-outs for chaser went smoothly. Ginny scored the most goals out of everyone, she was great. Harry knew she would be. The second best was another girl—a fourth year—by the name of Alyssa, also in Gryffindor. She had red hair and freckles. Alyssa wasn't quite at the level as Ginny, but still very good. The rest who had tried out weren't all that great, but made an effort, all the same. After five minutes Harry blew the whistle again. The chasers flew back down to the ground and stared intently at Harry.

"Well, everybody, that was great. You all did a phenomenal, but sadly, only two for you can make it. So, congratulations and welcome to the team to—Alyssa Nork and Ginny Weasley!"

The two girls squeeled excitedly. They linked arms and started dancing around and chanting.

"We got on the team! We got on the team! We got on the team! We got on the team! We got on the team…"

Harry looked at Ron and they burst into laughter. Ginny looked at Harry and shrugged, smiling widely at him. Harry smiled back and shook his head in laughter.

Everyone soon headed upstairs to the Gryffindor common room. The team decided to throw a "Welcome to the Team" party for the new members. Harry and Ginny both headed down towards the kitchens to get some food. Harry tickled the pear, and the couple was allowed in.

"Harry Potter, sir!" Dobby quickly squeeked.

"Hello Dobby," Harry greeted him gleefully.

"So this is Dobby?" Ginny asked in a whisper.

Harry nodded.

"What can Dobby get for Harry Potter, sir?"

Harry thought for a bit and said, "Anything is fine, Dobby, we're having a party up in the Gryffindor common room."

Dobby's tennis ball-sized eyes lit up.

"Would Mr. Harry Potter sir like a Wheezy Tin Special?"

Harry assumed he meant "Weasley Twin."

"That's fine Dobby."

The house elves quickly rushed about and within a matter of moments, their food was ready.

Harry took it, along with Ginny. They were headed out the door when Dobby squeeked, "Bye Mr. Harry Potter sir and—" Dobby broke off.

"Ginny," Harry informed him.

The couple waved and left the kitchens.

They headed up to the common rooms with their hands full of as much food as they could carry. Harry looked over and smiled at Ginny. Ginny did not smile back. Harry stopped walking, so Ginny stopped also, looking inquisitively at her.

"Gin? What's wrong? Are you mad at me or something?"

"Well…" Ginny began.

Harry's face fell. What could she be mad about? He didn't want their relationship to have problems….They had only just gotten together.

"You see, Harry…well…it's just that, ever since the try-outs…something's been troubling me…"

"What is it?" asked Harry.

Ginny sighed and spoke quickly. "You didn't pick me just because I'm your girlfriend…did you, Harry?"

Harry let out a sigh of relief. He thought it must have been something much more serious than this, but luckily it was not.

"Of course not Gin! You're an amazing chaser! You really were the best one out there! I promise I would never just pick you because you're my girlfriend. You were just great!"

Ginny smiled inwardly. "Yeah…okay…"

"Ginny…I promise," Harry stated solemnly.

Ginny nodded. "Okay."

The two made their way up to common room. The party was enjoyable—and a little rowdy—, lasting to nearly 1:00 am. They had butterbeers, creams of every kind, rolls, treacle fudge, and much more. At around 12:30, Harry went to bed. The party was still wild. As he lied in bed, he could still hear the rilesome noise.