Disclaimer: JK Rowling brought us these magnificent characters. I'm just messing with them for a little while.

A/N: I cannot believe that I was able to update this so quickly. I have been super busy with trying to stay caught up on all of my readings for class. I hope that I can update again soon because you may not like where I left this chapter off. Anyway, thank you to my reviewers.


Harry was exhausted the morning after his nightmare of Sirius's capture, but he was determined to make it through the day. He sluggishly moved to the kitchen in order to prepare breakfast for himself and the Headmaster. As Harry was occupied with cooking the food, Dumbledore walked through the door.

"Good morning, Harry. I hope that you managed to get some rest last night. You saw that Sirius was safe. He wouldn't want you to lose sleep on his account," Dumbledore said.

"Morning. I didn't get any sleep, but that's okay. I'll have plenty of opportunities to sleep in the rest of the summer."

Harry brought the food over to the table and sat down. "How many more people does Sirius have to visit? I asked him before, but he didn't give me an exact number."

"I believe that he only has to see Mundugus Fletcher and Hestia Jones. He should be at Grimmauld Place within a week."

"It doesn't seem like his mission took very long to complete," Harry commented.

"He was sometimes able to contact the Order members through other methods than running around in his Animagus form. He would also use the Floo or have someone Apparate him to the next house. Sometimes it was just more practical to do things the harder way though," Dumbledore replied.

Dumbledore could tell that Harry was apt to brood over the nightmare if they continued with this topic, so he tried to steer the conversation into lighter territory. Harry knew what the Headmaster was trying to accomplish, but he decided to go along with it anyway. Harry was actually glad that Dumbledore was looking out for him. Talking about simple things like Quidditch and Hogwarts eventually caused Harry to almost forget about what had happened in the night.

"How is your homework coming?" Dumbledore questioned.

"Pretty good. I finished Defense Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures already. I still have a long time to finish the rest," answered Harry.

"I wouldn't advise putting off Potions until last. Even though Severus has been more civil towards you, he wouldn't like it if you rushed through his assignment and did a poor job," Dumbledore replied.

Harry good-naturedly rolled his eyes. Potions would always be one of his worst subjects no matter how much time he spent on it. Since he had been getting along with Snape, he wouldn't want to disappoint the man; however, he figured that his professor should know by now how hopeless he was in the class.

"I have some work that I need to do," Dumbledore said. "You can go flying if you want to. If not, I'm sure that you can find some way to amuse yourself."

"Alright, sir."

After grabbing his Firebolt, Harry rushed outside. He had been flying only three days ago, but to him, it had felt like much longer. Harry kicked off the ground with a loud whoop of delight. He madly swerved in and out of the trees while trying to avoid hitting the branches or trunks. Harry figured that he needed all the practice he could get since the Tournament had cancelled Quidditch all last year.

Harry was concentrating so hard on his difficult maneuvers that he was totally unprepared for the sudden excruciating pain that exploded from his scar. Harry forgot that he was speeding through the air as he let go of the broom with both hands to clasp his forehead. His body weight shifted on the handle as he let out a piercing scream and quickly fell. Once Harry hit the ground hard, his head banged against the dirt and caused him to lose consciousness.


Harry could feel someone gently examining his body. He wondered what was going on at first, but his aches were swift to remind him of his fall. Harry vaguely realized that he was lying on something soft, so he obviously wasn't outside anymore. He struggled to open up his eyes; he had to tell Dumbledore about why he had fallen.

Harry was able to spot the Headmaster after his eyes had adjusted to the dim light in the room. He was surprised to see that Dumbledore's eyes were a little red. Once the Headmaster had spotted that Harry was awake, his face brightened a bit and he gave Harry a quick, gentle hug.

"Harry, I'm glad that you are okay. I was worried that you had been severely injured. I have examined you myself, however. You only have a few bumps and bruises, but you should heal pretty soon. The worst injury was the blow to your head, but I have a few potions for you to take that will help you," Dumbledore said.

Harry tried to croak out a response, but his dry throat wouldn't allow him to say anything understandable. Dumbledore, realizing Harry's predicament, hurriedly grabbed a glass of water from the bedside table. The Headmaster supported Harry's head while Harry eagerly gulped down several swallows of the cool, fresh drink.

"Did you get the potions from Professor Snape?" Harry finally asked.

"No. I tried to get a hold of him, but he wasn't at his house or Hogwarts. It is a good thing that I have the supplies to heal you," Dumbledore responded as he handed Harry the potions.

Harry grimaced as one potion after another went down his throat. After a while, the pain had dimmed, and Harry gave a sigh of relief. He glanced over at the Headmaster and noticed the look of guilt that had settled on Dumbledore's face.

"Sir, what's wrong?" questioned Harry.

Dumbledore reached a hand over and softly ran it through Harry's hair. Harry leaned into the comforting touch and closed his eyes. He loved the feelings that came from just receiving some simple physical contact.

"Harry, I'm sorry. You were injured flying this morning, but I didn't realize that anything was wrong with you until I found you in the forest just a few moments ago…"

Harry's eyes opened startled at that pronouncement. "This morning? How long have I been out?"

"It is now nine o'clock at night. I was so busy working, that I worked right through lunch and supper. I didn't realize how late it was. Once I figured out the time, I noticed that you hadn't come in. I didn't think that you had been flying all of this time, so I got worried that something had happened. I tried to call you, but you weren't able to respond. I finally found you a few feet into the forest," Dumbledore quietly replied.

"Professor, don't blame yourself. This couldn't have been prevented. While I was flying, my scar started hurting really bad. I don't know why it happened. That's what caused me to fall though," Harry answered.

Dumbledore straightened up a little startled at the announcement. "Did you have a vision?"

"No, my scar just hurt. I wasn't able to tell what Voldemort was feeling either."

"How do you feel now? Does anything still hurt?" Dumbledore asked.

"I'm still a little sore," said Harry.

Their conversation was cut off when they heard someone calling in the living room. Dumbledore went and opened the door to tell Snape where they were. Snape soon hurriedly entered the room. He glanced oddly at Harry lying in the bed before turning his attention to Dumbledore.

"Albus, the Dark Lord just had a Death Eater meeting. He has some of the Death Eaters attacking the Ministry of Magic right now. He didn't send everyone. The Dark Lord said that he would call the rest of us back later for a more important mission. I think that the attack on the Ministry is just a diversion, but I don't know what the rest of his plans are. You need to gather the Order members that Black has talked to and be ready to fight."

Harry and Dumbledore stared at Snape after hearing the bad news. Voldemort wasn't going to play around anymore; he was ready to show the world his power.

"Is there anything else to report to me?" Dumbledore questioned.

"He held me back after everyone else left, but it was only to ask about the potions that I'm supposed to be brewing. He only talked to me for a few minutes, and then I Apparated home before Flooing here."

Dumbledore hesitantly glanced at Harry. Harry could tell that the Headmaster needed to go, but he knew that Dumbledore didn't want to leave him alone after he had gotten hurt.

"I'll be fine by myself, sir. You're needed at the Ministry. I understand," Harry said.

Snape curiously looked between the two of them. "Did something happen today?"

"Harry fell off of his broom after feeling pain in his scar. He was knocked unconscious," explained Dumbledore.

"I have some potions…"

"That won't be necessary, Severus. I have already given some to Harry," Dumbledore replied. He then turned to Harry. "I'm sorry that I have to leave, Harry, but I will try to be back soon."

As Dumbledore was turning to leave, Snape spoke up. "If you want, Albus, I can stay here with Potter until the Dark Lord calls the Death Eaters back. It could be a while."

Dumbledore lips curved into a small smile. "I would like that, Severus. Harry, please try to go to sleep soon. You didn't sleep any last night after the nightmare, and you've been unconscious all day. I'm sure that your body needs the rest. Goodbye."

Once Dumbledore had left, Snape and Harry looked at each other. Sure they had been alone together at Hogwarts, but they had been busy making potions then. They weren't really sure what to do now.

"I don't really want to go to sleep yet," Harry said. "Professor, would you mind playing some chess with me? I'm not very good, but it will give us something to do."

"Alright, Potter," Snape replied as he grabbed the chess set and a chair. The chair was placed beside the bed while the chess set was precariously balanced on Harry legs.

There was silence in the room except when one of them would call out their move. Even though they had been a little uncomfortable around each other at first, they began to relax and feel more at ease. They were startled when they heard a voice saying Harry's name. Harry, his face brightening once he realized what was going on, reached over onto the bedside table and picked up the mirror.

"Hey, Sirius. How are you doing?"

"Hello. Is Dumbledore there?" Sirius asked.

"No, he had to leave. Did you hear about the Death Eaters attacking the Ministry? Is that why you wanted him?"

Sirius looked a little distracted when he replied. "Did he leave you there alone?"

Harry realized that Sirius hadn't answered any of his questions, but he figured that Sirius must have had something important on his mind. Maybe something else had happened besides the Death Eater attack.

"Professor Snape is here with me for a little while. When Professor Dumbledore gets back, I'll tell him that you wanted to talk to him," said Harry.

"No, that's alright. I think that we will be seeing each other soon," Sirius answered before disappearing.

Harry's brow furrowed as he continued to gaze at the mirror. He slowly turned to the table and set the mirror down on the surface. When he glanced back over at Snape, he realized that the man had been watching and listening to everything that had been going on.

"I guess something important came up," Harry lamely said.

Snape remained silent. He continued to stare at Harry for a few seconds before they returned to their chess game. Once Snape had won the game, Harry began to yawn.

Snape stood up from the chair. "I will let you go to sleep now. If you need me, I will be in the living room reading."

Harry wanted to stay up and wait for Dumbledore to come back with news, but he didn't know when the Headmaster would return. Harry felt like he didn't have any energy left in him. He gave a sleepy nod before snuggling under the covers and closing his eyes.

Harry was just beginning to doze off when he heard someone Floo into the house. He figured that Dumbledore must have finally made it home. Harry slowly pulled the covers off of his body as he stumbled towards his bedroom door.

As Harry neared the door, he heard a quiet voice and then a loud thump like something had hit the floor hard. Harry didn't know what was going on in the living room, but he didn't think that it was going to turn out to be anything good. With his heart rapidly pounding, Harry peeked out of his bedroom and down the hall.

"Professor?" Harry softly said. He knew that it was probably stupid to announce his presence in the house if something bad was happening, but he wanted to know if Snape was okay.

The house remained silent. Harry was beginning to grow more nervous as time went on. He started to quietly walk down the hallway while avoiding any of the creaking floor boards. Harry considered turning back, but he decided that he had already come this far.

As Harry walked into the living room, three Death Eaters emerged from the shadows. Harry tried to run back to his bedroom, but he was feeling weak and the Death Eaters were too fast for him. A spell quickly hit Harry in the back, and Harry was once again unconscious.