All characters depicted here belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing but the pleasure of writing this particular story.

Daydream Visitor

We didn't get too far before we both felt our legs magically lock together. We both yelled as we pitched forward, our hands outstretched. I let out a cry as my wrist crumpled under me.

"That's cheating!" I cried, rolling on to my side, holding my wrist against my chest. Ron sat up, his face slightly pink.

"What are you attacking us for? We were both innocent."

Neither Sirius nor Remus said anything as they released us from the Leg Locker Curse. Remus took hold of my arm while Sirius took Ron's. They jerked us to our feet and dragged us toward the Defence classroom. I glared at Remus as he pushed me through the door ahead of him.

"Stop jerking me around!" I yelled, yanking my arm out of his. My hand came up and I slapped him across the face before I could stop myself. "Oh! I'm sorry, Remus!"

Remus stared at me silently for a moment, his hand against his cheek where I had struck him. His face broke into a sheepish smile.

"I didn't mean to yank you around, Jules," he said softly, moving toward me and gathering me in his arms. "I just…"

"Lost your mind when we heard about Harry using the Cruciatus Curse on you," Sirius supplied.

"We were really worried, Jules," Hermione said softly, moving over to us. I remembered Ron saying she and Ginny had come to show them the Dome Charm.

"How did you even find out so soon?" Ron demanded, rubbing his arm where Sirius' fingers had dug in.

"Colin came running here as soon as he left the boys' dormitory," Ginny replied.

Ron made a face and muttered something under his breath. We didn't ask him to repeat it, as we were all thinking the same thing.

"So why did Harry use an Unforgivable on you?" Hermione asked.

"He used two, actually," I answered, sitting on one of the tables, absently rubbing my sore wrist. "He tried the Imperious Curse first and I was able to deflect it. Then he tried the Cruciatus Curse and, while I was able to slow it, I wasn't able to stop it and it hit me."

"He was testing you?" Sirius demanded. "What were you able to stop?"

"Basically everything. I mainly deflected everything away from me. Cruciatus was the only thing I wasn't able to stop."

"Which means you won't be able to stop Avada Kedavra," Hermione finished bitterly.

"I don't know," I replied honestly. "Cruciatus slowed. I think next time I will be able to stop it."

Remus, Sirius, Hermione and Ginny stared at me, shock etched in each of their features.

"Next time?" Remus repeated. "What next time? There isn't going to be a next time!"

"Yes, there is."

Remus stood there, glaring at me, his eyes hardening. I lifted my chin, saying nothing.

"Why do you want to go through it again?" Ginny asked.

"Because if I can stop it - "

"But you can't! You tried, and you can't!"

"It slowed. I think I can if I try again!"

"She's right," a voice from behind us said. I turned to find that Harry had joined us. "It slowed, I saw it."

I glanced at Remus and Sirius and thought for sure one of them was going to curse him or something. The fury on their faces was alarming. I stood angrily.

"Look, I am more than old enough to make my own decisions. Harry said he wanted to practice and I agreed. He is not to blame. Nobody is, really. We did need to know what I can stop and what I can't. Knowing what I can do helps us. Now stop acting like this!"

Remus opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. "No! I said that's enough! You treated Ron and I like criminals; you humiliated us in front of other students, you hurt me and you could have hurt Ron. Maybe what Harry did was wrong, but he did it for the right reason! The more we know about everything, the better off we are!"

I stopped then, breathing heavily. Each of them was staring at me as though I had sprouted a second head and I knew it was because I didn't usually start yelling like that.

"We hurt you?" Sirius repeated after a moment.

"Yes you did," I replied angrily. "Your tactics, in my opinion, are no better than those of Professor Snape."

With that, I turned on my heel and marched out the door.

I didn't stop walking until I found myself at the edge of the lake. The giant squid was lazily sunning himself, swishing across the surface of the lake. I sat on the grass, leaning against a beech tree and watched him for a while. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and I wished that I hadn't spent most of it inside, deflecting curses. I replayed getting struck by the Cruciatus Curse over in my mind.

I had never in my life felt anything like it. Even when Noah had beaten me up so bad, it hadn't hurt as much as the Curse had. I could understand why Hermione's father had died to get away from it. It made my heart ache to think of somebody having to endure that. It made me angry to think that somebody would purposely cast that Curse on somebody with the intent of hurting them.

I lay there, in the grass, under the tree for hours. The warm sun beat down on me, making it hard for me to keep my eyes open.

"Julianne," someone whispered. I opened my eyes and looked up at Harry. No, not Harry. This man was older and he had hazel eyes, not green. There was also no lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. Other than that, he was the spitting image of Harry.

"Who are you?" I asked, sitting up. Why did he look so much like Harry? Was he playing a trick on me?

"I have a message for you, Julianne," the man answered. He smiled kindly at me. "We can help you."

I stared at him, my eyebrows raised. "Is that the message? What does that mean?"

"When you need us," he repeated. "We can help you."

He backed up slowly and seemed to fade slightly around the edges. I blinked, trying to clear my eyes. It had to be the sun behind him that made him look faded.

"What do you mean by that? Please, please tell me!"

"We can help you," he repeated again, seeming to fade even more. "We can help you."

"No, come back!" I cried, struggling to stand. Why couldn't I stand? "Come back, please! Tell me what you mean!"

"We can help you," he said one last time. Then he was gone.

"Come back!" I screamed.

"Wake up, Jules!"

I opened my eyes, gasping, my arms flailing as though I was warding off an attack. I felt my hand connect with something, and that finally brought me awake. Harry and Remus were both crouched over me, concern evident in both of their eyes. I could see that, once again, I had struck Remus.

"I'm sorry, Remus!" I cried. "I didn't do that one on purpose!"

I looked around and realised that the sun had set. How long ago, I couldn't be certain.

"I fell asleep!" I yelped, sitting up quickly. "I had a dream!"

"Another premonition?" Harry asked, his face paling.

"Maybe…maybe. A man, who looked just like you, Harry. But he had hazel eyes. He said- "

"You had a dream about a man with hazel eyes?" Harry repeated, cutting me off.

"Who looked just like Harry?" Remus asked.

"Yes," I answered. "And he said - "

"How long ago did you fall asleep?" Harry asked, again cutting me off.

"The sun was still up. The man said - "

"Is he the only one you saw?" Remus demanded.

"Be quiet!" I cried, taking both of them by surprise. "Sorry. He told me that when we need him, they can help us."

"What does that mean?" Harry asked.

"I don't know! I asked and asked, but he wouldn't answer me! He just kept repeating himself!"

I jumped to my feet, fixing my robes as I stood.

"I need to go get Hermione. She can help me in the library!"

"Wait, Jules!" Remus said, grabbing hold of my arm as I turned to go. "Wait a minute. Let us get our heads around this. You saw a man who looked like Harry with hazel eyes?"

Was he being thick on purpose?

"Yes, I told you that," I agreed, again turning to go. Remus held fast to my arm.

"And he said 'We can help you'?" Harry asked.

"Yes," I answered impatiently. "Why? Do you know him? Is he playing a trick on me?"

Harry and Remus looked at each other. Both had gone slightly pale.

"No," Harry answered quietly. "No, I don't think he's playing a trick on you."

"Who…? How do you-?"

"The man you saw was James," Remus replied softly. His eyes were sad as he told me this. "James Potter. Your uncle. Harry's father."

I stared at the both of them. They seemed to agree to this.

"James?" I repeated. "Why would James visit me to say that they could help us? Who is 'we' anyway?"

"I assume Lily, Harry's mother," Remus answered. "Why wouldn't James visit you? I'm surprised you haven't dreamt of him before, really."

"And him saying they can help…Well, that's true, Jules," Harry said. "They can help. They helped me before."

"Physically?"

"No, not physically." Harry quickly told me about the night Voldemort had come back. About his friend being killed. About his parents coming out of the wand tip. I shivered as I felt a chill go up my back.

"Maybe there's a spell in one of the books that could help us," I said slowly as we walked up the stairs to the school.

"There might be," Remus agreed. "But I think you need a good night's sleep, Jules. You can search tomorrow, but soon the after effects of the Cruciatus will catch up with you."

"I had a potion," I protested.

"That doesn't matter," Remus said. "You're going to get the shakes like you wouldn't believe. It's like after you've gone running and haven't cooled down properly, you get the shakes and you get muscle cramps. You'll get them from your muscles being so taut."

"He's right, Jules," Harry agreed. "Let's go for dinner, then you can get to bed."

I sighed softly then agreed as we entered the Great Hall. I could feel eyes on me and looked around. Snape, from the head table, was watching us enter. Watching me enter. I returned his gaze frostily and turned to the Gryffindor Table.

"Straight to bed after dinner, Jules," Remus said warningly. "I mean it."

I stuck my tongue out at him and he grinned at me.

"Don't make me have to give you detention," he teased quietly. I grinned back and continued on to the table.

"You two are awfully pale," Dean commented as we sat down. Hermione shot a glare at him that he didn't notice.

"I'm tired," I answered. "And Harry isn't feeling well."

Dean nodded, turning back to his meal. As soon as his attention was elsewhere, Hermione leaned toward me.

"What happened to you?" she asked. "We didn't expect you to be gone for long, but you never came back!"

"I went to the lake and I fell asleep against a tree."

Ginny smiled at me. "Early to bed tonight, I'd say."

I rolled my eyes. "You'd better believe it."

I was about to tell them about my dream of James Potter when I caught Harry's eye. Neville was sitting not too far away and seemed to be listening. Harry shook his head very slightly. I changed the subject to the Quidditch match.

"Don't tell them just yet," Harry whispered after dinner was finished. "Let's figure out what it means first. No need to get their hopes up."

"Okay," I agreed.

At the Gryffindor common room, I bade them all goodnight and hurried up to my dormitory. I found myself hoping that James would come back and visit me again. Maybe he would tell me more this time.

"'We can help you'," I whispered to myself, tapping my quill against my parchment lightly. "'We can help you'."

"Jules, be quiet!" Harry whispered at me. "You're distracting me!"

I glared at him and continued to tap my quill against my parchment. Harry finally reached over and grabbed it out of my hand.

"Is there a problem?" Sirius asked, moving toward our tables just as I was about to use a Summoning Charm on my quill. He frowned down at my parchment. The words 'We can help you' were written on it over and over, covering the whole sheet. "Julianne, this doesn't look like Defence Against the Dark Arts."

Ron glanced over at my parchment and frowned. "What does that mean?" he asked.

"Ron, work," Sirius told him. "Jules, may I see you in my office?"

My eyes widened slightly. I stared up at Sirius and finally nodded. I gathered up my parchment and grabbed my quill from Harry and then followed Sirius into the office.

"Am I in trouble?" I asked before he could say anything. "I swear, Sirius, my work will be done for the next class."

Sirius pointed at the chair in front of the desk. I sat in it, and he sat right on the desk.

"That's not what I wanted to talk to you about, Jules. You need to stop obsessing about James visiting you. I'm sure you will figure it out sooner or later, but if you keep pushing for the answer, it will take longer to come. Put it out of your mind. Forget about it. It will come to you out of the blue."

"But, Sirius-"

"No buts, Jules. It has been four days. You aren't paying attention in class and Professor McGonagall had to give you a warning yesterday." He frowned at me. "I was told not to tell you this, but Remus didn't have a good night last night. One of his worst in a long time, actually."

I stood, staring at Sirius wildly.

"What?" I demanded. "Is he hurt? Did he hurt himself? Did he get out? Am I the reason he had a bad night?"

"No, not directly," Sirius answered. "He has been worrying about you since you had that dream about James. He's worried that you're going to drive yourself crazy because of it."
"That won't happen!" I cried. Sirius raised an eyebrow at me and pointed at my parchment.

I ignored him. "Is Remus hurt badly?"

"He will probably be in the hospital wing for the weekend," Sirius answered. I closed my eyes, fighting back tears. Sirius sighed and gave me a quick hug. "Go and see him," he added softly. "He'll be angry at me, but tell him I say to stuff it."

I laughed against his shoulder, pulling away. "Are you sure?" I asked.

"Just make sure you have your assignment done by Monday. Go."

"Thanks Sirius," I whispered, hugging him tightly. I hurried out of the office and went straight out the door. I could feel everyone's eyes one me, but didn't slow one bit.

It wasn't until I reached the door of the hospital wing that I realised I had forgotten my bag, but I figured Harry or one of the others would grab that for me. I entered, looking around for some sign of Madam Pomfrey.

"Back again, Miss Wallace?" she asked. "Need more potion?"

"No, thank you, Madam Pomfrey," I replied. "I had hoped to see Professor Lupin."

Madam Pomfrey didn't bat an eye. "Of course you may, my dear. He's just beyond that curtain there. I think he's been expecting you."

I smiled when I heard Remus say, "Poppy!" Madam Pomfrey winked at me. I thanked her and went in to see Remus. He smiled weakly at me. I realised I was staring at him and forced myself to move. I made sure the curtains were hiding us and then moved swiftly to the bed, climbing in beside Remus.

"Are you okay, Remus?" I asked, gently touching the fresh bruise around his eye. I jerked my fingers back when he winced. He took my hand in his.

"I'm okay now," he whispered, looking at me. He reached up and brushed a tear away. "Why are you crying?"

I looked away from his eyes for a moment. I saw that he was in his pyjamas and that there were scratches all over his neck and collarbone as well.

"I'm so sorry, Remus," I said softly. "I didn't mean to make you have a bad night."
"Oh, Jules," he said quietly, hugging me to him gently. "You didn't make me have a bad night. It was a weak potion as well as I have been worried about many things lately. Don't blame yourself."

I said nothing in reply and rested my head on his shoulder. My hand came to rest on his chest. I watched it rise and fall with his even breathing.

"Does Madam Pomfrey know about us?" I asked softly. "She knew you were waiting for me to come."

"Yes," he replied. "I told her a while ago. I know Albus wants it kept a secret, but I know we can trust Madam Pomfrey."

I nodded against his shoulder. Remus had known Madam Pomfrey since he was eleven years old, so I figured he would know best.

Remus and I lay there for a while, just talking. I didn't tell him about Professor McGonagall giving me a warning for not paying attention in class the day before. I didn't tell him about Sirius having to speak to me about not paying attention. Though I was certain he already knew about all of it.

I'd been there for about half an hour when we heard someone coming our way. We both stopped talking in order to listen. I saw a hand wrap around the curtain and saw the curtain start to move. I gasped and tried to roll out of the bed, but found that my legs were caught in the blanket. I let out a soft cry and, out of desperation, threw my hand up, palm out, in the direction of the moving curtain. It stopped moving. Remus quickly helped me out of the blanket.

"Jules, it's Harry! Let me in!"

I dropped my hand. Harry slid the curtain back and turned to glare at me. I was sitting innocently in one of the chairs.

"I knew it was you," I said cheerfully. "I was just playing."

Harry rolled his eyes and moved in further. Sirius came behind him, followed by Ron and Hermione.

"Sure you did," Sirius replied dryly. He grinned at Remus. "Lying with you, was she?"

Remus flushed as he grinned back at Sirius. "Quiet, Padfoot."

"How are you, Remus?" Ron asked, settling into the chair next to me. "Sirius told us you had a rough night."

Remus glared at Sirius. Sirius grinned sheepishly and shrugged.

"They forced it out of me, Moony, I swear."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Because asking where Jules went in such a hurry was such a forceful question."

"The way you asked it was."

Hermione shook her head and turned back to Remus, quietly asking him if he was alright.

"I'm fine, Hermione," he answered. "I'll be out of here by tomorrow morning. Good as new."

"Is there anything we can do?" she asked. Remus frowned.

"Do?"

"Bring you anything…I don't know, something."

Remus shook his head. "No, Hermione. Just keep searching the library and brainstorming. We're close, I can feel it."

"Professor Black?"

We turned to find Neville Longbottom standing at the curtain. He seemed embarrassed about something and was twirling his wand in his hands nervously.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Seamus told me he saw you come in here. I missed class today, as I'm sure you noticed. Can I speak with you about the homework?"

Sirius nodded and stood quickly, exiting to talk to Neville.

"I wonder why he was so nervous," Ginny said aloud. The rest of us shrugged. A thought struck me and I looked at Harry's wand.

"His wand looks a lot like yours, Harry," I commented. "I noticed that when he was playing with it."

Harry nodded. "It's the same, actually. Holly and phoenix feather. Except his wand is a female phoenix, whereas mine is from Fawkes, just like-" Harry stood suddenly, his eyes wide. "Connect the wands. That's it!"

"What?" Hermione demanded, staring at Harry as though he'd grown a second head. Sirius and Neville came around the curtain, drawn by Harry's shout.

"Everything okay?" Sirius asked. Neville quietly excused himself and left the area.

"Maybe!" Harry cried, grabbing his wand and rushing past the rest of us. "Just maybe! I'll be back!"

"Connect the wands?" I asked after he'd gone. "What does that mean?"

Ron, Hermione and Ginny shrugged. Remus looked like he had an idea about what Harry had meant, but Sirius had gone white.

"Padfoot?" Remus sat up slowly. "Are you alright?"

"Connect the wands."

I looked at Hermione, who shrugged.

"That's what Harry said," Remus said, as though speaking to a child. "He does not mean-"

"He does."

Remus shook his head. "How? How will he do that?"

"With the Saviour." Sirius turned to me. One by one, the rest of them turned as well.

"Will someone explain what's going on please?" I demanded.

"Harry's wand and Lord Voldemort's wand share a core. A phoenix feather," Sirius said slowly. "The phoenix that gave Harry's feather gave one other feather. It resides in Voldemort's wand."

I scoffed. "How do you know that?"

"Because Mr Ollivander remembers his wands. He remembered Harry's wand and Voldemort's wand. The phoenix that gave those feathers is Fawkes."

"Dumbledore's bird?" Ron said incredulously.

"One and the same."

"Then they not only share a core," Hermione said. "They are brother wands." A light came into her eyes and she stood. "That is why the wands connected. That is how he got away!"

"Priori Incantatem," Remus agreed.

"I get it," Ron said, nodding. "That's why his mum and dad came out of the wand tip. It didn't make sense before. I never understood how the wands connected."

"A wand will not battle its brother unless forced," Sirius concurred.

"Okay, wait!" I cried, interrupting. "Just a minute. That doesn't explain what 'Connect the wands' means! That doesn't explain what my part in this is!"

Sirius picked up Remus' wand from the bedside table. He held it in his hand next to his own wand.

"You have to get Voldemort's wand."

I rolled my eyes. "That's part of the plan."

"Yes. And you have to use it, as well as your own power."

I didn't say anything, merely stared at him.

"You," he said, putting the wand tips together, "have to connect the wands."

"NO!" Hermione yelped, leaping to her feet once more. "No, they can't do that!"

"Why?" Ron asked, confused.

"It's much too dangerous! It could backfire; it could-"
"Kill them."

Remus had spoken very softly. We looked at him, but he looked at his hands. "It could kill them. And it could kill all of us as well."

"How?"

"A wand is not meant to be connected with another wand in that way. It happened once before and the backfire was devastating. Thousands died. A city was destroyed."

"But they never found proof that that was caused by the wands connecting," Ginny argued, frowning. "War was being fought all throughout that city. That city being destroyed could have been caused by either Muggles or wizards. Or both."

"That's true," Sirius agreed. "That's very true indeed."

"What would us connecting the wands do?" I asked slowly. "If it didn't backfire."

"It would connect Harry's power and Voldemort's power. And it would connect your power. The power of Godric Gryffindor."

"Times two," I said with a smile.
"Exactly."

"And if it doesn't work?"

Remus smiled bitterly. "Then he wins. And the wizarding world as we know it will be gone forever."

Hey everyone. I am sorry about this chapter. I have been stuck on it for so long, and I just can't get it right. But here it is, I hope you enjoy it.